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“A Fatal Medication Error: The Legacy of Emily Jerry,” a FreeCE Webcast
Yesterday, I participated in a very important educational webcast that was hosted by a great organization called freeCE, which is a subsidiary of Pharmcon. The title of the CE was “A Fatal Medication Error: The Legacy of Emily Jerry.” The day before, on Tuesday, I was told that there were approximately 1,000 pharmacists and pharmacy technicians who were preregistered and would be attending this event.
During the presentation, the following short video clip from the Discovery Channel patient safety documentary where the pharmacist involved in Emily’s death and I were brought together for the first time in 2011, titled “Surfing the Healthcare Tsunami” was shown. Almost immediately afterwards, I began receiving extremely kind and very humbling email correspondence and IMs from many of the participants on the webcast.
I just truly want to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for ALL of the support and encouragement that so many of you have provided over the years, many of whom, like those on the webcast yesterday, that I have never even had the privilege of meeting! It’s this type of empathy and compassion that I have received from others that has continually reenergized me during times of doubt and inspired me to forge ahead with this very unconventional career that I have always truly felt in my heart that I have been called to do! The following is one of the emails I received during the CE…
Dear Chris,
As a pharmacist I just viewed the CE program about the tragedy regarding your daughter Emily. Let me start out by saying how truly sorry I am for your loss. I can’t imagine the pain you have endured. Your forgiveness and understanding surrounding this issue has inspired me. What an outstanding human being you are for forgiving. Your humanity is truly admirable. Thank you for continuing Emily’s legacy by trying to help the situation and turning your tragedy into something positive. People like you help others retain faith in mankind. Continued success to you in all endeavors.
Sincerely, Richard R. RPh
EJF at Campbell University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences
I had the great honor of being invited to speak for the first time at Campbell University College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences in North Carolina on September 11th. I gave two 1.5 hour presentations on patient & medication safety to the students and faculty that were very well received. Over the years, even though most of my lectures and presentations for the Emily Jerry Foundation have typically been at the hospitals across the nation, it has always been a top priority, whenever given the opportunity, to speak to our future healthcare leaders, the students.
Some Thoughts on The Emily Jerry Foundation’s 7th Anniversary
I think everyone would understand when I say that, from time to time, I occasionally have doubts and sometimes question whether or not my very unconventional career path and the Emily Jerry Foundation are really making a difference in patient and medication safety overall. Whenever I am having these moments of doubt, it seems that I always get a very kind and gentle reminder from someone, like the one I received yesterday from Kaitlyn, reminding me that it really is making a difference and I must persevere…for that I am so grateful and feel extremely blessed.
“Congrats on your foundation anniversary, though I am sorry there is a reason for your foundation. I was a pharmacy student in Ohio when Emily’s medication error occurred. From the moment I first heard her story, it’s had an impact on my life. I’ve heard your story several times, the most recently at ASHP and it never fails to bring tears to my eyes, especially now that I have two little girls of my own. THANK YOU for taking up this fight and your dedication to this important cause. As part of my job I work with compounding policy and procedures and I think of your family often. You are truly making a difference in the world, and I hope that with continued effort a system can be shaped and maintained where there don’t have to be stories like Emily’s.” ~Kaitlyn B.
Pharmacy Technicians University Now Available for Individuals!
I am so excited to share this news! Our friends at RxTOOLKIT eLEARNING have recently partnered with TRC Healthcare (Authors of Pharmacist’s Letter and Pharmacy Technician’s Letter) to make TRC’s Pharmacy Technicians University™ (PTU) available to individuals.
I am also very thrilled to announce that RxTOOLKIT® has actually dedicated this vital training program in the memory of my beautiful little girl Emily! As a result, they have pledged to donate a portion of the proceeds from PTU directly to the Emily Jerry Foundation!
A big thank you goes out to my good friend Chuck DiTrapano at RxTOOLKIT for this awesome commitment to EJF! More importantly, I really want to thank Chuck and his team at RxTOOLKIT for helping to significantly improve medication safety by helping to ensure the core competency of our nation’s pharmacy technicians! Please visit the following link to learn more about their true sentiments for helping the Emily Jerry Foundation honor my daughter’s short life here on earth by focusing this comprehensive educational program for pharmacy technicians on preventing tragedies before they actually happen…ultimately saving countless lives in the process! https://rxtoolkitelearning.com/about/dedication/
The following is from the official announcement posted on the RxTOOLKIT blog at medsafetyonline.org:
“This online competency-based curriculum provides all of the tools and information needed to prepare techs for the job and the national certification exam.
Today, pharmacy technicians are increasingly important members of the pharmacy team. Skilled pharmacy technicians are critical for the economic and efficient function of a pharmacy. However, training requirements for pharmacy technicians change often and are becoming more complex, creating a shortage of qualified pharmacy technicians.
Training and certification ensure that pharmacy technicians have the core competencies required to safely perform the full scope of practice as well as the right attitude for advancing success.
Pharmacy Technicians University™ takes the headache out of technician training and compliance with convenient, cost-effective, online training including real-world scenarios and rich media content.
Most importantly, trained, competent, and reliable techs can drastically reduce any facility’s overall medication error rate.”
We couldn’t agree more! Follow this link to read the whole announcement: http://medsafetyonline.org/rxtoolkit-and-trc-healthcare-announce-partnership-to-expand-availability-of-best-in-class-online-pharmacy-technician-training-program/
They are offering two separate programs, one for the retail practice setting and another including 30 additional hours of specialized training essential for institutional pharmacy. Both programs prepare techs for the job and also to take the national certification exam.
Please contact eLEARNING@RxTOOLKIT.com or visit www.RxTOOLKITeLEARNING.com for more information or individual purchase.
[TRC® Healthcare, Pharmacy Technicians University™, and PTU 101™ are trademarks of Therapeutic Research Center. Copyright © 2018 Therapeutic Research Center (TRC) All Rights Reserved. / RxTOOLKIT® and RxTOOLKIT eLEARNING™ are trademarks of HMMRx Inc. Copyright © 2018 RxTOOLKIT, HMMRx Inc. All Rights Reserved. ]
Upcoming Speech Announced at Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi
I feel very humbled and privileged to have been invited to speak at the upcoming 4th Annual Intravenous & Parenteral Nutrition (IVPN) Symposium-From Evidence to Practice that is taking place at the Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi in November!
On the Road to Oklahoma City’s Children’s Center Rehabilitation Hospital
Heading to Oklahoma City today for meetings at the Children’s Center Rehabilitation Hospital tomorrow. Really looking forward to discussing how IV automation is proven to significantly reduce or even eliminate the “human error” component in the hospital pharmacy workflow, ultimately saving countless lives of the most vulnerable patients for preventable medication errors…our babies and children.
My good friend Grace Magedman, who has been the Director of Pharmacy Services at the Children’s Hospital of Orange County for many years, sums it up best when she says, “IV automation in pediatric pharmacy practice is an essential tool in delivering the safest and most accurate doses, especially for our tiniest patients. We must no longer consider it optional in the way we deliver pharmaceutical care.”
Filming on set for “Nightmares of Medical Error” Documentary in Los Angeles
Headed to the city of angels to share the tragic story of what happened to my beautiful little angel for a very important documentary being produced by my friend Angela Rei. More importantly, I am also sharing the vital lessons that have been learned since Emily’s death from a very preventable intravenous (IV) medication error in 2006.
It’s been 12 long years since her passing, but as Emily’s daddy, I now believe her short life here on earth was truly meant to be the catalyst for positive change, ultimately saving countless lives! In all of the work I have been doing over the years in healthcare with the Emily Jerry Foundation, I feel so blessed to have been a first hand witness to all of these positive changes that are actually occurring…I could not be more grateful!
Please consider making a small contribution today to the production of this documentary!
The Emily Jerry Foundation and ARxIUM Partner to Develop Children’s Hospital Consortium to Eliminate IV Compounding Errors by 2021!
“Can your facility really afford to NOT be 100% accurate with EVERY single IV medication preparation?”
Weight-based dosing of any medication has always been a primary concern for the pediatric patient population. This is especially true with the tiniest of babies coming into this world weighing as little as 400 grams. Unfortunately, due to their variability in weight, it also makes them the most vulnerable patient population for tragic preventable medication errors. This is why the accuracy of the compounded sterile IV (intravenous) medications can be a matter of life and death for babies and children, and also exactly why ACCURACY means absolutely EVERYTHING when it comes to the preparation of each and every vital medication in the hospital pharmacy.
With all of this said, I am so very pleased to announce this exciting new partnership between the Emily Jerry Foundation and ARxIUM (www.ARxIUM.com). Through this partnership we are committed to eliminating IV compounding errors by 2021 by implementing available clinically proven technologies that produce safe and accurate medications and improve internal processes and training for pharmacy staff.
You can learn more about this new life-saving medication safety initiative that is currently being developed by the Emily Jerry Foundation and ARxIUM by reading this press release.
Speech at University of Washington School of Pharmacy
Ever since establishing the Emily Jerry Foundation in 2009, it’s always been the extremely important to me to always be striving to affect positive change in how clinician/caregivers, view, respond, and subsequently learn, from preventable medical errors when they occur. This is precisely why I felt so privileged to be invited, by the Student Pediatric Pharmacy Advocacy Group (pictured below), to speak at the University of Washington School of Pharmacy yesterday! We had a great turnout comprised of all of our future leaders in healthcare!!
Last Updated: January 7, 2019 by ejfadmin Leave a Comment
Upcoming Appearance on the Dr. Oz Show
Yesterday, I received word from the producer that the interview I did with Dr. Mehmet Oz back in November, where we discussed preventable medical error, patient & medication safety, forgiveness, etc., is scheduled to air on January 22nd. It was such a great honor to meet Dr. Oz, let alone make an appearance on the show in order to spread the word about our very important cause. From time to time, these scheduled air dates can change. If I hear anything differently I will definitely try and let everyone know. ~Chris