FLOOD-AFFECTED residents of an aged care facility in Western Sydney will not be forced to go without critical medications after a stranded pharmacist organised for supplies to be airlifted to them.
Blooms the Chemist Windsor pharmacist, Lizzy Gripper, who has been unable to get home across the Hawkesbury River as a result of the recent flooding, worked with community organisations to arrange for a helicopter to deliver supplies to the Ron Middleton Nursing Home in Richmond.
Gripper spent several hours yesterday morning packing the essential medicines for the mercy flight to the facility.
"If they had waited until flooding subsided, it would take at least a week until they would be able to drive, which would be too long for the patients to wait," a spokesperson said.
"Up to 80 residents are dependent on this essential flight, including one gentlemen whose Parkinson's medication needs to be packed and shipped within one hour to maintain medication integrity."
Meanwhile, NSW Health has also deployed a specialist Medical Assistance Team to the North Richmond area to provide emergency care to patients who have been cut off from hospitals as a result of the flooding.
NSW Health Deputy Secretary, Deborah Willcox, said the team is expected to be deployed for a period of seven days.
"The critical care team will be based in North Richmond and will be able to help stabilise patients, while arrangements are made for them to be transferred to an emergency department as early as possible," she said.
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