Description
During an emergency, public health workers may be called upon to help dispense medicine or medical supplies. Find out what is involved in the process of mass dispensing of medications, vaccines, or other medical supplies. This one-hour online course outlines situations in which mass dispensing is necessary, and discusses the logistics of providing medications to large populations.
Learning Objectives
- Describe the role of medications, vaccines, and medical supplies in response to a public health emergency, such as an act of terrorism, a natural disaster, or an influenza pandemic
- List and describe the pharmaceutical resources available for public health crises and describe how these resources could be used within local communities
- Describe the purpose and general process flow of a mass dispensing clinic or a point of distribution (POD)
- Explain the roles of public health staff and volunteers in a POD
Intended Audience
Public health workers and volunteer health care providers who wish to increase their knowledge of mass dispensing of pharmaceuticals.
Format
This HTML-based online course has interactive exercises (Flash-based). This course should take approximately 60 minutes to complete.
Course Instructor
Andy Stergachis, PhD, RPh
Professor, Epidemiology and Global Health
Adjunct Professor, Pharmacy
Northwest Center for Public Health Practice
School of Public Health and Community Medicine
University of Washington
Technical Requirements
This course requires certain software and browser plugins to be installed. See our Technical Requirements page for details.
Accessibility
This online training course is text-based and is designed for accessibility. A print version of the course is also available in the Supplemental Material section at the bottom of this page. Please note that the print version does not include interactive exercises, quizzes, or the final assessment. Flash-based interactive exercises and quizzes in the course may not be accessible to screen readers. To receive a print version of the quizzes, please contact nwcphp@u.washington.edu. If you have any difficulties in accessing the information given in any of our documents or need further assistance, please contact nwcphp@u.washington.edu.
