Four Required Pieces of Pharmacy Equipment

Today's modern pharmacy is dedicated to keeping your medicine safe and free from contaminants such as humidity and exposure to the air that may compromise the quality of the pharmaceuticals. Four key pieces of equipment are utilized by both the pharmacists and pharmacy techs to ensure consumers receive the proper medication in the best state possible.

Refrigeration

• Many medications must be refrigerated to be stablized and of use to patients. Among these are antibiotics such as Amoxil and Augmentin and insulin for diabetics. Correct temperature is important for such medications, as many medications that become too hot or allowed to freeze must be discarded. Such mistakes are costly for any pharmacy and put the customer at risk. Most refrigerated medicines are required to stay at a steady temperature of 36 degrees to 46 degrees Fahrenheit, and a commercial refrigeration unit must be employed to ensures a high degree of reliability. Units must be regularly serviced and maintained for proper functioning.

Tablet Counter

• In order to efficiently and accurately dispense medication, pharmacists and pharmacy techs rely on tablet counter trays. These tablet trays are small plastic trays with a trough at one end. Pharmacists use a small blade-like metal stylus to push the pills across the plastic tray and into the trough as they count them. The excess pills are put back into their storage bottle and the required amount is slid out of the tray into the prescription bottle. The trays are often brightly colored in order to make the medication easy to see and count.

Electronic Balance

• When a pharmacist is handed a prescription that needs to be assembled on site from other existing medications, an electronic balance is essential. This scale is precise to 1 milligram. Such equipment is utilized in prescriptions such as magic mouthwash, which must be customized for any number of oral ailments such as mouth infections, fungus treatment, or pain relief from dentistry procedures. The electronic balance is used when making measurements for each ingredient for a combined prescription. Although not utilized as much in larger pharmacies, the balance is regularly used in smaller family pharmacies.

Pestle and Mortar

• Ancient symbols of the pharmaceutics profession, a glass pestle and mortar is still utilized today. A glass pestle and mortar -- specifically made by Wedgewood china -- are required by law in pharmacies. These toold enable the pharmacist to safely combine prescriptions that come in a granulated form that must be combined together to form a prescription. The resulting pharmaceuticals can be placed in capsules, topical creams, ointments, and oral liquids. In the past, pharmacies would order a mortar and pestle with their logo emblazoned on it or etched into the glass. These items are often sold as collectibles after they have served their purpose and need to be replaced due to chips or cracks.