What must all emergency kits in a long-term care facility include?

Emergency kits in long-term care facilities are designed to provide rapid access to essential medications and supplies during emergencies, ensuring the health and safety of residents. One of the critical components of these kits is a breakable seal and the pharmacist's signature. The breakable seal ensures that the integrity of the kit is maintained, indicating that it has not been tampered with and that all contents are secure and available for use in an emergency. The pharmacist's signature serves as a verification that the kit has been properly assembled, confirming that the contents are appropriate and compliant with relevant regulations.

Including a breakable seal and a pharmacist's signature also helps in maintaining accurate accountability and traceability of the medications within the kit. It ensures that any medication dispensed from the kit during an emergency can be linked back to a responsible pharmacist, which promotes safety and accountability in medication management in the facility.

While having an inventory list, access codes, or child-proof caps are important elements of medication management, they do not directly address the integrity and verification of the emergency kit contents in the same critical way as a breakable seal and pharmacist's signature. Thus, the inclusion of the seal and signature is essential for the proper operation of emergency medications in long-term care settings.