A multi-service medical training mission scheduled to take place in three locations in Missouri, Illinois and Kentucky starting June 14 and continuing until June 22 will provide “hands-on” training opportunities to medical and support personnel while also providing no-cost healthcare to the local community. While each site will offer medical, dental and vision services to all members of the public, the location in Barlow, Kentucky is the only location with an on-site pharmacist offering certain prescription medications.
Navy Reserves Lt. Cmdr. James Nash is the pharmacy OIC and on-site pharmacist for this training mission named DAEOC Tri-State Innovative Readiness Training (IRT) 2019 and attended an IRT mission the previous year in Savannah, Ga., where he was also the sole pharmacist assigned to the mission.
“Our services here are at no cost and there will be representatives here from the community who will help them with accessing the healthcare system and maintaining the sustainability of their health,” said Nash. “We hope to be able to provide medications that are safe and effective for [patients] depending on what they are being seen for.”
The goal of the pharmacy during the IRT is to provide short-term prescription medications to the local community and be a resource for education on safe, effective use of prescription medication. Some medications that may be prescribed by providers during the IRT include those treating colds, allergies, asthma or heartburn. While there will be certain pain medications prescribed, there will be no narcotics distributed during the IRT.
In addition to providing no-cost prescription medication and healthcare to the local community, the IRT also presents a crucial training opportunity for service members to train in a joint environment that prepares them for emergency or deployment scenarios requiring on-the-fly readiness.
“We are off to a good start already,” said Nash. “I anticipate we will impact lives. I think success is going to be huge in many ways but the biggest success is seeing someone walk away getting something that they really needed.”