Ebola Scare at a Rite Aid Pharmacy - Be Prepared

Now the Ebola scare is spreading to retail pharmacies in our country. In Hackettstown, New Jersey a Rite Aid Pharmacy was actually closed this past Friday afternoon when a customer exhibited possible signs of Ebola. The Hackettstown police and rescue squad arrived at the pharmacy after being contacted that a man was showing sings of possible Ebola infection (symptoms include fever, severe headache, vomiting and diarrhea). Being that Ebola is highly contagious and can spread to others after symptoms begin, authorities chose to close the store and the area around it. The customers, patients and staff were then "quarantined" while emergency personnel investigated. After the man was determined to not have the deadly virus, the store was reopened for business.Rite Aid is investigating further into the incident to determine if proper procedures were followed in dealing with the situation. The question arises as to how the possible Ebola incident that occurred in it's store will affect business. Will customers stay away due to the negative publicity and the possibility that the Ebola virus actually was present in the store? Will patients go to other pharmacies in the area even though the Rite Aid did not do anything wrong?The real questions to pharmacy owners are: Are you and your pharmacy prepared to deal with an unexpected crisis or emergency in your store such as the Ebola incident example above? Do you have policies and procedures in place for situations that could potentially shut you down and threaten your reputation or livelihood? Is your staff prepared and trained in reacting to such situations? If the answers are no, then we strongly urge you to contact HCC today. Healthcare Consultants has been helping pharmacies prepare for and deal with emergency situations for over 25 years now. Let us help you develop policies and procedures for your pharmacy to deal with such situations (or review existing ones that you may already have in place). For a free consultation with one of our in-house Pharmacy Consultants call us at 800-642-1652 to discuss how we can help.Don’t let potential issues and problems develop into serious threats to your pharmacy! As the old cliché says: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure! Contact us on line or call us today for a Free Consultation to discuss how we can help!Bob Miller10/21/2014