Extreme weather events such as hurricanes can affect medication delivery and the availability of medications for patients. For example, in August 2023 the effects of Hurricane Idalia (flooding, wind damage, power loss, infrastructure damage) affected the deliverability of medications in the Southeastern United States and made it more difficult for patients to get the medications that they need. These disruptions are often unavoidable. But the fact that we know, to a fairly accurate degree, where a storm is headed and when it will get there provides an opportunity to mitigate certain types of disruption — such as medication delivery problems — both before and after a storm’s arrival.

 

The supply-chain problems of the past few years have made medication delivery in the United States and around the world even more vulnerable and natural disasters only add to the chaos. At Cardinal Health 3PL, we work with more than 180 pharmaceutical companies to develop contingency plans that, when implemented correctly, can ensure that patients who rely on their medications are protected before, during, and after hurricanes and other extreme weather events. 

 

An effective contingency plan starts with two critically important links in the medication delivery chain: wholesalers and retailers. It’s vital that you know both types of customers and stay up to date on their inventory levels. A Category 1 hurricane might not affect a wholesaler that stocks multiple weeks’ worth of medications, sometimes in multiple locations, but a specialty retail pharmacy won’t have as much product on hand. 

 

Having this knowledge readily available and routinely updated will allow your customers to respond quickly to supply-chain disruptions caused by hurricanes and other natural disasters and extreme weather events, rather than them trying to figure it out within a span of days or even hours. 

 

An effective contingency plan must also identify potential gaps in the supply chain and include alternative modes of product distribution. For example, airports usually shut down during hurricanes, grounding all inbound and outbound flights.

 

Do you, or your partners have contingency plans in place for alternative transportation options when a disaster strikes? What do you do if your main mode of moving product through the supply chain is disrupted? If you don’t have a plan, there’s no time like the present to help your customers augment the modes of transportation that their patients rely on for medication delivery. 

 

Your plan should also account for how to maintain delivery of medications that are in high demand, as well as products that are critical for surgical procedures. Part of that process involves labor — tracking your own staffing levels as well as those of the logistics partners that you rely on. 

 

Without proper communication, however, a contingency plan won’t do your customers much good in times of crisis. They will want to know that they have your total support when they most need it, that they can count on you to deliver vital medications when it matters most. 

One of the best ways to reassure customers is through open and honest communication. Your contingency plan should include protocols for how to notify customers of changes to shipping and delivery timelines, as well as how to explain why delays are occurring.

 

Don’t make promises you can’t keep — be honest and open, and don’t minimize or downplay the risks and hazards of extreme weather events. In fact, it’s best to err on the side of overcommunication. If a disaster turns out to be less severe than initially forecasted, your customers will, if nothing else, appreciate the fact that you planned for as many outcomes as possible. 

 

It’s no secret that extreme weather events have become more frequent over the past few years, which is even more reason to develop a contingency plan that will prepare you to mitigate the effects of natural disasters before they occur — because it’s a matter of when, not if. However, we realize that you and your teams are busy with the day-to-day tasks of doing business. That’s why we conduct quarterly business reviews with pharmaceutical manufacturers who use our services. 

 

During such sessions, we’ll look ahead and try to anticipate weather-related challenges. Maybe the winter season is coming up and it’s time to plan for snow- and ice-related emergencies. What’s your contingency plan for dealing with road closures? A good way to start planning is to review what happened last year and see if there are lessons to be learned from how your team responded to severe weather in the past. 

 

The historically unprecedented nature of the COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath, however, proved that you simply can’t plan for every possible disruption. In a way, though, that presents an opportunity to focus on the basics of business continuity before diving into more specifics of your contingency plan. For example, if half of your leadership team is out sick for an unknown amount of time, how are you going to maintain a minimum level of operational stability? 

 

Such questions are unpleasant to ponder but, as the adage says, if you fail to plan, you are planning to fail.