KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 24, 2012 \u2013 Don\u2019t be alarmed if you see a person dressed in a biohazard suit Thursday afternoon outside the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Memorial Union. Students in public health class to administer fake anti-virals to test emergency response KINGSTON, R.I. \u2013 April 24, 2012 \u2013 Don\u2019t be alarmed if you see a person dressed in a biohazard suit Thursday afternoon outside the University of Rhode Island\u2019s Memorial Union. That individual will just be watching for zombies and making sure they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":639,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[35,50,53,131],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5374","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","category-news-pharmd","category-news-php","category-news-teaching"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5374","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/639"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5374"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5374\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5374"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5374"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.uri.edu\/pharmacy\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5374"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nThat individual will just be watching for zombies and making sure they don\u2019t get anywhere near the Ram\u2019s Den while URI pharmacy students try to keep the virus that causes zombiism from spreading.
\nFrom 2 to 3:30 p.m., 25 pharmacy students will be running a mock dispensing clinic, during which anti-viral medications mockingly named Zombivir and Gummivir (really just Sour Patch and Gummy Bears candies) will be given to individuals to prevent the disease\u2019s spread.
\nThe mock distribution clinic is the brainchild of Jeffrey Bratberg<\/a>, URI clinical associate professor of pharmacy and an expert on bioterrorism, pandemics and natural disasters who serves on the Rhode Island Disaster Medical Assistance Team, which completed two tours of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina in 2005.
\n\u201cWe are running a mock point of dispensing (POD) operation, which is the standard in response to outbreaks of small pox, flu or anthrax,\u201d Bratberg said.
\nThe focus of his public health class is to teach pharmacy students how to recognize infectious disease outbreaks, how they spread among populations, what the symptoms look like and where in the world they develop.
\n\u201cI break the class into groups and assign each group a disease,\u201d Bratberg said. \u201cThen we run table top exercises each week, during which students outside the group pepper the group members with questions about how they would respond to a number of variables,\u201d said Bratberg, who is also a consultant with the Rhode Island Department of Health.
\n\u201cWe have been working regularly with the Department of Health throughout the semester, and its personnel came to the class to train and certify the students as mass antibiotic dispensers,\u201d the professor said. \u201cIn addition, they have all been trained in the Federal Emergency Management Agency\u2019s Incident Command System, which spells out very clear roles for emergency responders.\u201d
\nIn preparation for Thursday\u2019s drill, the students practiced with point of dispensing kits donated by the Town of Charlestown. \u201cThey will be using the actual equipment used in an emergency clinic,\u201d Bratberg said.
\n\u201cBecause any clinic would face drug interaction issues or side effect issues, we are planning to offer two mock anti-virals,\u201d he added. \u201cAnd as everyone knows, if you can get treatment within 24 hours of a bite from a zombie, you won\u2019t come down with the symptoms. So, if people come to the clinic with (mock) bite marks within 24 hours, we will give them both anti-virals. If people show up with bite marks that were made beyond 24 hours or those who show up with full zombie symptoms, we will have security to turn them away.
\n\u201cAnd that\u2019s exactly how we run real-life clinics,\u201d Bratberg said. \u201cClinics do not want those who have come down with the illness to come and infect those who are healthy.\u201d
\nThe students have been inviting other pharmacy students and their friends to participate in the clinic. There are enough mock anti-virals for 500 patients.
\n\u201cWe have all kinds of scenarios, including pregnant women, hysterical individuals, those who want to volunteer at the clinic, but are not part of the core group,\u201d Bratberg said. \u201cWe want to really test our response, while bringing a bit of levity to the proceedings.\u201d
\nThe students got a clue about the direction of the class early in the semester when they were required to read the books, The Zombie Preparedness Guide and World War Z.
\nMedia Contact: Dave Lavallee<\/a>, 401-874-5862<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"