Continuing education of hospital pharmacy technicians in Cytotoxic Reconstitution Unit (CRU) a regional level answer: results of 4 CRUATHLON

1 October 2025

H. Bertucat¹, L. Cantournet², R. Chevrier³, A-C. Cholley⁴, S. Danjean⁵, A. Demaziere¹, M. Etis⁶, M. Jouannet⁷, C. Lechevalier⁸, A. Peyrol⁹, S. Picandet¹⁰, S. Talavera-Pons¹¹, S. Trevis⁷, C. Ragazzon¹², A. Simand¹³, E. Sigward¹⁴
¹ CH J. Lacarin Vichy, ² CH Henri Mondor Aurillac, ³ Centre Jean Perrin Clermont Ferrand, ⁴ CH de Brioude, ⁵ CH de Moulins-Yzeure, ⁶ CH de Roanne, ⁷ CHU Clermont Ferrand, ⁸ CH de St-Flour, ⁹ CH d’Ambert, ¹⁰ Clinique St Francois Désertines, ¹¹ CH de Thiers, ¹² CH Emile Roux Puy en Velay, ¹³ Pole Santé République Clermont Ferrand, ¹⁴ CH de Montluçon, France.

Context/Objective
Continuing education for Hospital Pharmacy Technicians (HPT) in CRUs is required by the Good Preparation Practices (GPP). A regional response is offered to all HPTs in the whole 14 CRUs.

Materials and Methods
Each year a CRUATHLON is organized by the pharmacists team. Topics require knowledge in pharmacotechnics, clinical practice, and quality assurance. Depending on themes, these are conducted either within each CRU or during a dedicated meeting. A review with commentary is conducted by the coordinating pharmacist, and a prize is awarded to the top three teams.

Results
4 CRUATHLONs were organized in 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2025 with different topics: 1) Gerpac themed quiz in team with topics “safety of preparation” “materials and techniques” “Quality Risks and Regulations” 2) Isolator of errors realised individually but collective result with 5 situations comprising a total of 10 errors: expired remainders, product error, bag type error, bag volume error, dose error, bag not clamped, fields upside down, wrong syringe volume, no error in 1 scenario, bag not colored while it is an epirubicin bag 3) Gerpac cards game in team on 20 molecules (1 completioncard per molecule). These cards cover technical knwoledges (dilution, filter, reconstitution, storage, etc.) and clinical knowledges (indications, dosages, etc.). 4) Cancerro Quiz developed by Cancer Centers consists of 10 questions on pharmacotechnical and clinical topics with multiple-choice answers and joker cards. Participation rate of the 14 CRUs was 1) 8, 2) 7, 3) 6, and 4) 10. CRUATHLONs 1, 2, and 3 took place in each CRU, and then all teams are meeting together for the awards ceremony. The 4th CRUATHLON was attended by all the teams, followed by the awards ceremony.

Discussion/Conclusion
Different CRUATHLONs enable updates on knowledge and additional informations. Clinical topics provide a comprehensive approach to chemotherapy. During the 3rd CRUATHLON, results on this topic were better than those for pharmacotechnical knowledge. When CRUATHLONs are held in each CRU (first 3 CRUATHLONs), the pharmacist/HPT discussion time is favored because outside any production time. The meeting/award ceremony allows exchanges between units and also between HPTs. The 4th CRUATHLON was held in a different format, with all 10 teams present simultaneously (40 people). This increased the challenge aspect and allowed for immediate exchanges. However, the explanations were less personalized for each CRU. CRUATHLONs are dedicated moments of continuing education awaited by HPTs. New editions will be scheduled in futur.

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