TR Icon

Clinical Resources for Emergency Shortages of Treatments and Supplies (CRESTS)

This page highlights resources to help our partners prepare for and manage medical product shortages and the allocation of scarce resources. These resources are either free/open access or include specific recommendations in their abstracts. In addition to cataloging resources, CRESTS maintains a Core Cadre of partner organizations. During a shortage with major national impacts on patient care, ASPR TRACIE will rapidly convene the CRESTS Core Cadre and additional subject matter experts as required to develop interim conservation and tiering strategies that will be posted for use while more comprehensive recommendations are developed by medical specialty societies and other organizations. ASPR TRACIE will continue to monitor the shortage and identify and highlight best practices or develop additional resources as needed.

For detailed information about CRESTS:

  • About CRESTS
  • CRESTS Partner Organizations
  • Implementing Allocation Strategies

ASPR TRACIE/CRESTS is an effort to offer best practice allocation strategies available from clinical experts and from published sources. These strategies must be adapted and adopted for local practice based on the situation. Shortages are dynamic and require adjusting strategies over time. ASPR TRACIE/CRESTS is not responsible for the accuracy of the information posted. The end user is fully responsible for the clinical implementation of any allocation strategies.

If you are unable to find what you are looking for, or if you would like to submit a resource for possible inclusion, please contact our Assistance Center.

CRESTS does not have specific considerations for a current shortage.

Current Shortage Tracking Resources
FDA Drug Shortages: Current and Resolved Drug Shortages and Discontinuations Reported to FDA
Current Drug Shortages
General Shortage Strategies
ASHP Guidelines on Managing Drug Product Shortages
ASHP Guidelines on Perioperative Pharmacy Services
ASPR TRACIE Crisis Standards of Care Briefs-Summary
Bolstering the Medication Supply Chain and Ameliorating Medication Strategies: A Position Paper from the American College of Physicians
Clinicians and Coalitions: A Conversation about Finding Solutions for Medication Shortages
Crisis Standards of Care-Insights from COVID-19 and Pharmaceutical Supply Challenges Webinar
Critical Medical Device List Recommendations Report
Development and Validation of a Predictive Model to Predict and Manage Drug Shortages
Disaster Available Supplies in Hospitals (DASH) Tool
Drug Shortage
Drug Shortage: Causes, Impact, and Mitigation Strategies
Drug Shortages: A Guide to Policy Solutions
Drug Shortages—A Study in Complexity
How Should We Draw on Pharmacists’ Expertise to Manage Drug Shortages in Hospitals?
Improving Access to Critical Medications: A Policy Toolkit for Health Agency Program Leadership
Improving the Quality and Resilience of the United States Healthcare Supply Chain
Introduction to the Disaster Available Supplies in Hospitals (DASH) Tool
Managing Drug Shortages in Pediatric Care
Medical Product Shortages During Disasters
Medicine Shortages and Availability Issues: Guidance for Companies
Medicine Shortages: An Algorithm for Evaluating the Substitution with Equivalent or Alternative Products
Partnering with the Healthcare Supply Chain During Disasters
Patient Care: Strategies for Scarce Resource Situations
Risk Management for Avoidance of Drug Shortages
Supply Chain Protocol, Playbook, and Resiliency Road Map
Using a Web Platform for Equitable Distribution of COVID-19 Monoclonal Antibodies: A Case Study in Resource Allocation
Facility Response
ASHP Guidelines on the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Committee and the Formulary System
Crisis Standards of Care Topic Collection
Ethics
Incident Management (e.g., Hospital Incident Command System, EOC operations, Multi-agency coordination, demobilization)
Management of a Parenteral Opioid Shortage Using ASPH Guidelines
Pharmacy
Responding to Disaster: Form and Function of a Pharmacy Incident Command Structure
Template - Hospital Crisis Standards of Care Resource Allocation Annex

In addition, ASPR TRACIE maintains a CRESTS Topic Collection where users can review both general and product category-specific resources to support their planning efforts.  

Enter your email address to receive important announcements and updates through the ASPR TRACIE Listserv.