Other
One afternoon, a woman came into the pharmacy concerned about her mother’s heartburn. Since her mother was my patient, I already knew some of her medical history—including a family history of cardiac arrest. When the daughter asked for a treatment to relieve the heartburn, I asked more questions about her mother’s symptoms. Based on what I learned and my knowledge of her background, I became concerned this wasn’t just simple heartburn.
I advised them to see their family doctor right away. The daughter said the doctor wouldn’t be available until the next week, so I urged her instead to take her mother to the emergency room. I suspected her symptoms might be related to a heart problem rather than just indigestion.
They followed that advice, and once at the hospital, the mother’s condition worsened and she suffered a cardiac arrest. She was stabilized and then flown by helicopter to a larger medical center in the city. There, she underwent a procedure to have two stents placed to restore blood flow in her heart.
My decision to recommend emergency care might have helped catch a critical heart issue in time.
Because of a pharmacist, something important happened.
