RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas –
A computer system outage that affected units throughout the base this month caused a two-and-a-half-day delay for hundreds of people seeking medications and prescription refills at the Randolph Pharmacy.
Pharmacy spokesmen said planning ahead can prevent the inconvenience and anxiety it caused.
"Our system went down and we could not do anything during that time," Lt. Col. Arshad Qureshi, pharmacy director, said about the virtual shutdown June 9-11. "It became a safety risk to dispense all medications."
Colonel Qureshi said the pharmacy staff depends on the computer system to provide them with information about patients, including what medications they are taking and when they received their last refills.
"We depend on our system," he said. "It provides a lot of safety nets."
Colonel Qureshi said pharmacy employees could only provide emergency medication, such as antibiotics and inhalers for people with asthma. He said they could not dispense controlled medications such as Percocet, Ambien and Xanax.
"Those we cannot dispense because of accountability and liability issues," he said.
Capt. Heather Fenzl, chief of pharmacy services, said customers should refill their prescriptions ahead of time - at least a week.
"No matter what they're taking, they should not wait until they're totally out," she said. "They should do it one to two weeks ahead of time."
Colonel Qureshi said customers can also go to nearby pharmacies in the community for a small co-payment during a computer system shutdown.
Captain Fenzl said pharmacy staff addressed the backlog caused by the system shutdown by working late June 11.
"On Wednesday we worked a 12- to 13-hour day filling prescriptions," she said. "We work very hard to make sure they get their medication even if it extends the duty day."
Captain Fenzl said the pharmacy filled between 100 and 200 prescriptions for emergencies when the system was shut down.
"It took us about two days to catch up," she said.
During shutdowns, she said a staff member fields questions in the lobby. In addition, a message is placed on the automatic call-in system to inform customers.
"Try to be patient with us," she advised customers. "We're doing the best we can. It's frustrating for us, too."
"Safety is our number one concern," Colonel Qureshi added. "We want to make sure prescriptions are safely dispensed, are error-free and will not cause harm to our patients."