Ambulance roles for pharmacists
October 6, 2015
AMBULANCE services across
Australia are increasingly employing
pharmacists to improve medicines
use and patient safety, according
to an article published in the latest
issue of the Journal of Pharmacy
Practice and Research.
The article relates the experience
of South Australian ambulance
pharmacist Dr Peter Hayball, who
said the SA Ambulance Service
had recognised the “real need for
pharmacists’ clinical skills in this
environment,” with paramedics
giving medicines to patients in
about 50% of all cases.
“Initially I was providing
governance and patient safety
around handling Schedule 4 and
Schedule 8 medicines, but the
role has blossomed considerably,”
Hayball said.
The ambulance pharmacist
reviews and updates the formulary
for paramedics and prepares
protocols for their use using limited
information in the area.
“The pharmacist therefore needs
to use all their training in retrieving
and interpreting medicines
information,” Hayball said.
Other roles include analysing the
effect on medicines of the hostile
high temperature conditions in
parked ambulances.
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