Challenges Of Ssetup Of The Emergency Clinic And The Role Of The Pharmacist In The Ukrainian Humanitarian Crisis

• By: NAKAZATO, Yasutaro (Japanese Red Cross Society Osaka Hospital, Japan)
• Co-author(s): Mr Yasutaro Nakazato (Japanese Red Cross Society Osaka Hospital International Medical Relief Department, Osaka-shi, Japan / Japanese Red Cross Society Osaka Hospital Pharmaceutical Department, Osaka-shi, Japan)
  Ms Eiko Kobayashi (Japanese Red Cross Society Medical Center International Medical Relief Department, Tokyo, Japan)
  Mr Kensuke Kawai (Japanese Red Cross Society Osaka Hospital International Medical Relief Department, Osaka-shi, Japan)
  Ms Noriko Ikeda (Japanese Red Cross Society Osaka Hospital International Medical Relief Department, Osaka-shi, Japan)
  Dr Kenji Mitsumori (Japanese Red Cross Society Osaka Hospital International Medical Relief Department, Osaka-shi, Japan)
  Mr Masahiko Kobayashi (Japanese Red Cross Society Osaka Hospital Pharmaceutical Department, Osaka-shi, Japan)
  Dr Masaharu Nakade (Japanese Red Cross Society Osaka Hospital International Medical Relief Department, Osaka-shi, Japan)
  
• Abstract:

  [BACKGROUND INFORMATION]
  The humanitarian crisis in Ukraine which began on 24 February/02/ 2022, has resulted in a rapid increase in the number of internally displaced people that moving from eastern part to western part of Ukraine. In response, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) opened a WHO EMT Type 1 fixed clinic in Uzhhorod which is a city in western part of Ukraine bordering Slovakia. In Ukraine, no foreign health care professional can provide medical service directly. Thus, our team supported Ukrainian health care professionals that were employed by the Ukrainian Red Cross Society.
  [Purpose]
  To consider how we as pharmacists can be involved in supporting local medical staff and ensuring the quality of the provision of medicines in situations where we cannot provide direct medical services. I was in charge of setting up and running this clinic operational from April to June 2022 as the Pharmacist/Medical Logistician of the IFRC Emergency Response Unit first rotation team led by the Finnish Red Cross.
  [Method]
  In Ukraine, no foreign health care professional can provide medical service directly. Thus, our team supported Ukrainian health care professionals that were employed by the Ukrainian Red Cross Society. I was in charge of setting up and running this clinic operational from April to June 2022 as the Pharmacist/Medical Logistician of the IFRC Emergency Response Unit first rotation team led by the Finnish Red Cross. Equipment, medicines and medical consumables were transported from Finland. As a pharmacist, I mainly set up the pharmacy and then created an inventory sheet to manage IN/OUT of medical supplies. Finally, we handed over everything to the Ukrainian health care professionals including the pharmacist and completed the mission.
  [Results}
  In this case, the medicines written in Finnish and English were illegible in Ukraine. This is often a barrier for those who manage medicines. Although we were prohibited to provide the medical service directly, I was able to provide logistical support during this atypical mission and to have a significant presence in the setup of the clinic because of the pharmacist's aspect of being a "medicines manager". In addition, since the clinic is still running today, we consider that the mission itself have been a success.
  [Conclusion]
  Red Cross Emergency Medical Relief often uses sender's medicines. The language on the package and the name of the medicines itself are sometimes different from the affected country. In this case, the medicines written in Finnish and English were illegible in Ukraine. This is often a barrier for those who manage medicines. The use of AI may help to solve these problems in the future.
  In emergency medical relief, pharmacists are primarily responsible for two aspects of the mission: patient medication guidance and management of medical supplies. By using these two aspects depending on the situation, pharmacists can play an active role in any mission, whether it is a typical or atypical mission.