Citation

See S. Ann. Fam. Med. 2013; 11(6): 571-573.

Affiliation

St.John's University College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Jamaica, New York.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2013, Annals of Family Medicine, Inc.)

DOI

10.1370/afm.1585

PMID

24218382

Abstract

Hoboken, New Jersey, is a town of 50,000 residents located across the Hudson River from New York City. Most of Hoboken's infrastructure was compromised during Hurricane Sandy as a result of flooding and power outages that rendered many businesses inoperable, including all of the pharmacies in town. Despite a focus on emergency preparedness since Hurricane Katrina and 9/11, there were no contingencies in place to facilitate and assess the medication needs of the community in the event of a natural disaster. This essay describes how the author rediscovered the meaning of community, and through working with colleagues in other health care disciplines and non-health care volunteers, provided care to patients in suboptimal circumstances.

Language: en