Why it’s Important to Review Your Pharmacy Disaster Recovery Plans All Year Round

This past week, one of our employees who works from home lost power for about 6 hours.  It wasn’t because of high winds or heavy snow.  Instead, it was due to an oil spill in his neighborhood.  Crazy random happenstance?  Maybe, but it doesn’t change the fact that our disaster planning shouldn’t just melt away with the snow. 

When the sun starts to shine it’s easy to forget about some of our wintertime worries.  Including the fear of impending power outages due to inclement weather.  But it’s important to remember that power outages can happen at any time, for any number of reasons, and your pharmacy should always be prepared.

Make sure your PC’s are plugged into functioning battery backups.   This way, if the power goes down, you’ll have enough time to finish the transaction you’re running and properly shut down the PC to prevent damage. 

Also, take the time to review your emergency policies and procedures.  They may have been built with winter in mind, but it’s good to review them semi-annually or even quarterly.  If you haven’t created emergency procedures, check out this past post for some good advice on what to do when preparing for the unexpected.