Pharmacy Daily | Bushfires going from ‘bad to worse’

BUSHFIRES in southern NSW "are going from bad to worse" Capital Chemist Group Business Manager, Andrew Topp, believes.

With blazes raging across the country a number of regional towns were closed off on Sat, as emergency services sought to combat the fires.

Speaking to Pharmacy Daily yesterday morning, Topp said staff working at the group's Bowral store who had been out of their home since Fri, "don't know if they've got a house".

Topp noted that at 5pm on Sat, the day before the summer solstice, the sky above the south coast town of Huskisson "it was like the dead of night", as smoke from nearby fires blocked out the sun.

Topp listed nine Captial Chemist stores that have been directly affected by the fires, with three pharmacies in Batemans Bay, two in Ulladulla, and one each in Bowral, Braidwood, Huskisson and Mittagong, feeling the pressure.

"I'm not trying to say they're about to burn down, because that's not true," he said.

"But they are being heavily impacted by fire from staff, from evacuees, customers' ability to access, ability to get stock delivered."

Pharmacy Guild of Australia NSW Branch President, David Heffernan, who has a pharmacy in Cudmirrah Beach, said roads into and out of the area had been closed on Sat, with residents and visitors asked not to leave.

Heffernan told Pharmacy Daily the fires had created staffing issues, with one pharmacist who had been rostered to work unable to get to the coastal town.

Meanwhile, South Australian Guild President, Nick Panayiaris, said pharmacies in the state had been operating normally over the weekend.

However, he said, "many patients have been impacted by the fire".

"We are working on some potential logistical issues in getting deliveries into some of the fire impacted towns as they are screening people in and some of the couriers are not delivering into those areas," he said.

"Through the local branch of the Guild we have made some financial provisions to each of those pharmacies to help with urgent supplies of medications to patients.

"The pharmacies will also be stocking up on the basics like toiletries, and sanitary items as well as asthma puffers and saline washes for those affected by the smoke.

"We have contacted the coordinating centres to inform them that anyone requiring an emergency supply of their regular medication should go into their local pharmacy for assistance."