AWARD WINNERS


PHARMACY HERO NOELLE HOLMES


oVEr ThE lAST fEW yEArS, ThE rolE of CoMMUnITy PhArMACy In ProVIDIng An EXCEllEnT lEVEl of hEAlThCArE hAS groWn In IMPorTAnCE. MorE AnD MorE frEQUEnTly, ThE gEnErAl PUBlIC ArE VIEWIng ThE CoMMUnITy PhArMACIST AS ThE fIrST PorT of CAll WhEn IT CoMES To ThEIr hEAlTh QUErIES AnD WorrIES.


A


s such, community pharmacists are carrying out invaluable work on a daily


basis, but, every so often, a pharmacist will go above and beyond the call of duty. In March last year, noelle holmes, who was working at Mcnallys late night Pharmacy in newry at the time, became a real-life heroine when a local man ran into the pharmacy suffering from anaphylactic shock.


local chef, Aaron McDonald, had been enjoying the carvery dinner at a newry eaterie when he inadvertently tucked into the stuffing, not realising that it contained traces of nuts. Diagnosed with an aggressive nut allergy in 2006, Aaron was supposed to carry his EpiPen with him at all time. The injection contains a shot of adrenaline, which reverses the effects of anaphylactic shock.


on this occasion, however, as Aaron’s throat began to close over, he realised to his horror that he had forgotten to bring his life-saving EpiPen with him and that he was, in effect, moments from death. By now, Aaron’s face, throat, tongue and lips had swollen to the point where he was finding it difficult to breathe and he knew that he had to act quickly. fortunately, Mcnally’s late night Pharmacy was close to the restaurant.


28 - PhArMACy In foCUS


In many circumstances, pharmacists are not allowed to administer an EpiPen unless the patient presents a prescription but, fortunately for Aaron, noelle could see that this was a life or death situation and immediately bypassed the need for a prescription, thereby saving Aaron’s life.


‘There was definitely a moment of panic at the time,’ noelle told Pif. ‘naturally, as a pharmacist, you don’t want to make a mistake, but then I just asked myself what I would expect anyone to do for me or for a family member and I just acted. It was a simple decision at the end of the day.’


‘What noelle did was obviously hugely important,’ said gavin Kennedy from award sponsor, Bank of Ireland. ‘The Pharmacy hero Award recognises exceptional service and there’s probably no greater example of service than saving someone’s life, which is why Bank of Ireland is delighted to sponsor this award.’


The issue had previously hit the headlines in 2013, when fourteen- year-old Emma Sloan died on a Dublin street after mistakenly eating a peanut-based sauce at a Chinese restaurant. her mother had rushed into a nearby pharmacy to get an EpiPen, but the pharmacist in that


case had refused to provide one and had advised the mother to phone for an ambulance. After the girl’s death, the pharmacist was investigated by Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, but the case was dismissed because of discrepancies in the mother’s statements and because the pharmacist had instructed the mother to get an ambulance.


As a result of the young girl's death, the Department of health in the republic confirmed last year that new legislation would go through government 'in the near future' and that EpiPens would then be made more widely available 'to trained non- medical personnel for use in emergencies, through pharmacies and many other institutions'.


In another high-profile case, a woman experienced a serious allergic reaction to a bee sting and went to the pharmacy for help. The pharmacist administered epinephrine and then convinced the woman that she still needed to go to the hospital despite her initial reluctance.


In the ambulance, the woman’s symptoms returned more aggressively and she had a biphasic reaction, but the medical staff was able to treat her secondary reaction quickly. In northern Ireland, however, the


human Medicines regulations 2012 state that a community pharmacist can make an emergency supply of a prescription-only medicine, such as an EpiPen, without a prescription, to a patient who may not have immediate access to his own prescribed EpiPen. The regulations also permit anyone to administer such adrenaline injections for the purpose of saving life in an emergency.


fortunately for Aaron MacDonald on that afternoon in March, noelle could see that this was a life or death situation and she immediately bypassed the need for a prescription. 'As a pharmacist you are supposed to interview the patient first,' Aaron later told the media, 'but I was barely even breathing. noelle had to ask me to administer the EpiPen shot myself as it can require quite a bit of force. At that time, I was able to do it myself but, if I had gone any further with my allergic reaction, noelle would have had to give it to me.'


once noelle had given Aaron the EpiPen, she immediately rang 999 and Aaron was taken to Daisy hill hospital, where the medical team told noelle that she had done the right thing in not waiting to give Aaron the shot.


Noelle Holmes and Gavin Kennedy, Bank of Ireland (UK)


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