Roles, Skills, and Knowledge Requirements of Clinical Pharmacists in Disaster or Emergency Response Teams: A Scoping Review.

OBJECTIVE

The scoping review aims to provide an overview of the existing literature to inform an understanding of pharmacists' roles, skills, and knowledge requirements for Emergency Medical Teams responding to disasters or humanitarian crises.

METHODS

The methodology utilized the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Extension for Scoping Reviews (PRISMA-ScR) guidelines, with methodology adapted by the Joanna Briggs Institute. Six databases were searched for sources published after 2000: PubMed, Mednar, Scopus, Defense Technical Information Centre, LILACS, and CINAHL. A manual search of grey literature was conducted to discover additional sources of information outside of the electronic databases.

RESULTS

Of the 427 initial studies and reports, 36 were selected for inclusion. Five key themes on role requirements were identified: supply chain management; establishment and operationalization of pharmacies; stakeholder communication, collaboration, and liaison; direct patient care; and response management and coordination. Each theme was delineated into subthemes linked with requisite skills and knowledge.

CONCLUSIONS

This scoping review identifies key roles, skills, and knowledge requirements of pharmacist contributions to Emergency Medical Teams responding to disasters or emergencies.