The International Associated of Fire Chiefs (IAFC) Board of Directors has adopted a position statement on U.S.-wide trends of fire departments and EMS agencies experiencing critical shortages of drugs that are used to save the lives of patients that may be suffering from trauma or a medical emergency. The国际毒品短缺的IAFC职位声明(pdf) calls on the American fire service to make addressing the national drug shortage a top priority.
The position was brought forward to the IAFC leadership by the IAFC EMS Section following extensive research and discussions with local and national stakeholders.
“必须找到解决方案；医护人员必须拥有至关重要的药物来挽救患者的生命。“能够为现场患者使用适当的药品的能力可能是生与死之间的差异。我们都知道，在这些情况下，快速干预至关重要。等待管理挽救生命的药物，直到受害者到达急诊室（至少在我们开始护理后10到15分钟）就会产生严重且不必要的风险。”
The position statement draws on federal government and medical industry research, which illustrates the growing problem. The number of drug shortages have tripled in just 5-years time and shortages are becoming more severe and more frequent. Currently, there is no comprehensive data on the specific impact caused by drug shortages on fire-based EMS; however, much of the risks identified in the research (e.g. delay in care, human error, prohibitive expense, etc.) are easily extrapolated to the EMS-environment.
The position statement includes three components:
- 关于国家药物短缺的教育部分，包括相关风险，确定导致国家毒品短缺和消防部门影响的因素，
- an outline of the IAFC positions on issues relating to federal investment and processes, national laws and regulations, and improved interagency collaborations, and
- suggested actions for fire and emergency service leaders.
“国家药品短缺是having a major impact on fire-based EMS, but it is also a larger public safety issue,” said IAFC President Al Gillespie. “Even if your department does not provide EMS, the repercussions of shortages in your community can negatively impact your ability to successfully save lives and the ability of others to help responders in need of emergency care. I encourage every fire service leader to educate themselves on this issue and become a part of the solution.”
