Pharmacist's activities on a trauma response team in the emergency department

The interventions of a clinical pharmacist on an emergency department (ED) trauma response team were studied.

The study site was an academic, tertiary care hospital designated as a level 1 trauma center, with a clinical pharmacist present in the ED 40 hours per week. For a two-month period, interventions by the pharmacist in trauma cases were documented in an electronic quality-improvement database.

A total of 304 interventions were recorded; the most common were dosage recommendations (60%) and provision of drug information (27%). The top five drug classes involved were analgesics, sedatives, antimicrobials, vaccines, and fluids. In 83% of the interventions, the pharmacist documented involvement in facilitating drug administration.

A pharmacist participating on the ED trauma response team commonly provided dosage recommendations and drug information, facilitated drug administration, and optimized sedation, analgesia, and antimicrobial therapy.