Hostname: page-component-76fb5796d-zzh7m Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-29T08:35:10.442Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Community Pharmacy Operations in Puerto Rico During the 2017 Hurricane Season: A Descriptive Analysis of Rx Open Data

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 December 2020

Courtney E. Romolt ,
Kyle Melin Open the ORCID record for Kyle Melin [Opens in a new window] ,
Kinaya Y. Hardie ,
Sarah M. Baker  and
Nicolette A. Louissaint
Courtney E. Romolt
Affiliation:
Healthcare Ready, Washington, DC, USA
Kyle Melin
Affiliation:
University of Puerto Rico Medical Sciences Campus, School of Pharmacy, Puerto Rico, USA
Kinaya Y. Hardie
Affiliation:
Healthcare Ready, Washington, DC, USA
Sarah M. Baker
Affiliation:
Healthcare Ready, Washington, DC, USA
Nicolette A. Louissaint*
Affiliation:
Healthcare Ready, Washington, DC, USA
*
Correspondence to Nicolette Louissaint, 1325 G Street, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20005 (fax: 202-328-1502, telephone: 866-247-2694, e-mail: nlouissaint@healthcareready.org).
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Objectives:

This article aims to: (1) describe the ‘Return to Open Pharmacy Operations’ in Puerto Rico following the hurricanes Irma and Maria in the 2017 hurricane season, and (2) compare the recovery rate (Return to Open Pharmacy Operations) during the 2017 hurricane season between the US Commonwealth of Puerto Rico and the state of Florida.

Methods:

We performed a cross-sectional study of pharmacy operations in Puerto Rico utilizing Rx Open data for pharmacies in Puerto Rico during the 2017 hurricane season. To compare open rates of pharmacy operations over time in different contexts, we also analyzed Rx Open data for the state of Florida for Hurricane Irma.

Results:

Only 11.1% of pharmacies remained open in Puerto Rico 3 days after Hurricane Maria made landfall, and Puerto Rico pharmacy operations recovered slowly, at an average daily rate of 3.9% before reaching pre-landfall baseline operations. Puerto Rico pharmacy operations after Hurricane Maria recovered 10 times slower on average, compared to pharmacy operations in Florida after Hurricane Irma which reached baseline operations less than 1 week following Hurricane Irma’s landfall.

Conclusion:

Our results demonstrate the unique severity of Hurricane Maria’s impacts on Puerto Rico’s health system.

Keywords

emergency preparednesshurricanenatural disasterspharmacy operationsRx Open Map
Type
Original Research
Information
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness , Volume 17 , 2023 , e11
Copyright
© Society for Disaster Medicine and Public Health, Inc. 2020

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Cangialosi, JP, Latto, AS, Berg, R. National Hurricane Center Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Irma (Al112017). National Hurricane Center: 2018. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL112017_Irma.pdf. Accessed June 10, 2019.Google Scholar
Pasch, RJ, Penny, AB, Berg, R. National Hurricane Center Tropical Cyclone Report: Hurricane Maria (Al152017). National Hurricane Center: 2019. https://www.nhc.noaa.gov/data/tcr/AL152017_Maria.pdf. Accessed June 10, 2019.Google Scholar
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). U.S. billion-dollar Weather and Climate Disasters: 2019. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/billions/events.pdf. Accessed June 19, 2019.Google Scholar
Central Office for Recovery, Reconstruction, and Resiliency. Transformation and Innovation in the Wake of Devastation An Economic and Disaster Recovery Plan for Puerto Rico. San Juan, PR: Government of Puerto Rico, 2018. https://prsciencetrust.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/pr-transformation-innovation-plan.pdf. Accessed June 20, 2019.Google Scholar
Santos-Lozada, AR, Howard, JT. Use of death counts from vital statistics to calculate excess deaths in Puerto Rico following Hurricane Maria. JAMA. 2018;320(14):1491-1493.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kishore, N, Marqués, D, Mahmud, A, et al. Mortality in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. N Engl J Med. 2018;379(2):162-170.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Santos-Burgoa, C, Sandberg, J, Suárez, E, et al. Differential and persistent risk of excess mortality from Hurricane Maria in Puerto Rico: A time-series analysis. Lancet Planet Health. 2018;2(11):e478-e488.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Moore, AF, Kenworthy, L. Disaster Relief: A Look Into the Pharmacist’s Role. N C Med J. 2017;78(3):195-197.Google ScholarPubMed
Pincock, LL, Montello, MJ, Tarosky, MJ, Pierce, WF, Edwards, CW. Pharmacist readiness roles for emergency preparedness. Am J Health Syst Pharm. 2011;68(7):620-623.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Hogue, MD, Hogue, HB, Lander, RD, Avent, K, Fleenor, M. The nontraditional role of pharmacists after hurricane Katrina: Process description and lessons learned. Public Health Rep. 2009;124(2):217-223.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kelling, SE, Rondon-Begazo, A, DiPietro Mager, NA, Murphy, BL, Bright, DR. Provision of Clinical Preventive Services by Community Pharmacists. Prev Chronic Dis. 2016;13:E149.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Melin, K, Maldonado, WT, López-Candales, A. Lessons learned from Hurricane Maria: Pharmacists’ perspective. Ann Pharmacother. 2018;52(5):493-494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Melin, K, Conte, N. Community pharmacists as first responders in Puerto Rico after Hurricane Maria. J Am Pharm Assoc. 2018;58(2):149.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zorrilla, CD. The View from Puerto Rico - Hurricane Maria and Its Aftermath. N Engl J Med. 2017;377(19):1801-1803.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Jiménez-Mangual, BC, Cuevas-Acevedo, DM, Quiles-Alves, N, Rodríguez-Nazario, I, Melin, KR. Description of patients medications needs and the community pharmacist’s role in Puerto Rico following a natural disaster. J Prim Care Community Health. 2019;10:2150132719842701.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Healthcare Ready. Rx Open | FAQs. 2019. https://www.healthcareready.org/rxopen/faq. Accessed June 18, 2019.Google Scholar
Wise, A. Puerto Rico declares state of emergency ahead of Hurricane Irma [Internet]. Reuters. 2017. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-storm-irma-puertorico-idUSKCN1BF25W. Accessed June 20, 2019.Google Scholar
Scott, R. Executive Order Number 17-235 (Emergency Management - Hurricane Irma). State of Florida: 2017. https://www.flgov.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/SLG-BIZHUB17090402490. Accessed June 20, 2019.Google Scholar
Mitsova, D, Esnard, A-M, Sapat, A, Lai, BS. Socioeconomic vulnerability and electric power restoration timelines in Florida: The case of Hurricane Irma. Nat Hazards. 2018;94(2):689–709.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Melin, K, Rodríguez-Díaz, CE. Community Pharmacy Response in the Aftermath of natural disasters: Time-sensitive opportunity for research and evaluation. J Prim Care Community Health. 2018;9:2150132718813494.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed