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It was such a privilege and honor to have been given the opportunity to lecture at Purdue University College of Pharmacy this past Friday by my friend Dr. Dan Degnan.  There were approximately 150 students in the patient safety and informatics class in attendance, all working hard to pursue their doctorate degrees. These students are our future leaders & experts who will ALWAYS be fighting the “the good fight,” always striving to make medication safety the absolute number one priority amongst ALL their colleagues in the different modalities, helping to assure the best possible outcome for EVERY single patient receiving healthcare. This is also why I’m so pleased to be able to say that this (PHRM 86800) patient safety and informatics class is actually a required course for all third year (P3) students in Purdue’s PharmD program.

I’m so convinced & extremely confident, that through these PharmD student’s strong and effective leadership throughout their careers, these students are the ones who will help lead the charge to help save countless lives from preventable medication errors, like the one that tragically claimed my daughter Emily’s life in 2006.

Unfortunately, many people in the public are completely unaware that what happened to my daughter Emily was not just a freak accident and that medication errors are responsible for the loss of hundreds of thousands of lives every single year in the United States alone. This is what makes this issue relevant to literally, ALL of us!  Why?  The answer is simple, we ALL receive healthcare during our lifetime, as do ALL our loved ones.

The good news in all of this, as I’ve mentioned countless times before is that I truly believe preventable medical errors are just that…PREVENTABLE!

This is the bio from the Louisiana Pharmacist’s Association’s Program Agenda…it very clearly sums up my true sentiments as to exactly why I am so passionate about my work in patient & medication safety.

I really love & enjoy my very unconventional career path and all the wonderful healthcare providers I’m so privileged to work with every single day…it’s what I feel I’ve been called to do considering what tragically happened to my daughter Emily in 2006. As I’m sure you can imagine though, I admit there have been many times over the years, I’ve still found myself looking up saying, “this is really all part of Your plan and what You really want me doing?”…my whole career since Emily died has truly been a walk of faith, learning to trust in God’s plan for me, but one I would never change or trade for anything.

This is also why I feel so honored to be giving the Keynote at the LPA Annual Meeting in Baton Rouge later today!

Ever since establishing the Emily Jerry Foundation and beginning my journey down this unconventional career path, I have felt very strongly that it was imperative to help people understand and recognize the simple fact that “human error” is inevitable. No matter how well educated or intended a person may be, God made us ALL fallible.  My primary objective over the years, has been to help prevent what happened to my beautiful baby girl, from happening to others. To accomplish this and save lives, I realized that this inherent “human error” component needs to be truly acknowledged, and subsequently, core systems, processes, and protocols, in healthcare designed around this fact.

This is why, I highly recommend reading this great article from Dr. Tyler Nichols, from ISMP, titled “IV Workflow Management Systems: A Century in the Making,” that was published in Pharmacy Practice News, last Friday.

Visit https://lnkd.in/g-64Eq_w, to learn more about this exciting technology.

As someone who has been a very outspoken proponent, over the years, for the smart adoption & implementation of technology, as the tools to help eradicate “human error” from the pharmacy workflow, I’m hoping and praying that you, the experts in the modality of pharmacy, will continue striving and “fighting the good fight” to make these lifesaving IV workflow management systems become a “standard of care” as soon as possible!

To all clinician caregivers, thank you for all of your ongoing efforts to improve medication safety and God bless you all for your continued support of The Emily Jerry Foundation!

It’s been an extremely busy, but productive past few days, with respect to my advocacy efforts relating to the overall mission of the Emily Jerry Foundation.

Yesterday, I was so blessed to have the opportunity to present to such a wonderful and receptive audience at the Cleveland Clinic’s Medication Analytics, Safety & Technology Symposium. The presentation not only focused on improving medication safety and the prevention of medical errors, like the one that occurred with my daughter Emily in 2006, we also discussed, what is often referred to as the “2nd victim syndrome” and the overall impact that these tragic medication errors have on the health care providers, as well.

Then this morning, in Nashville, I had the distinct honor and privilege of being able to present to yet another amazing group of clinician caregivers & members of state boards of pharmacy at the 119th NABP Annual Meeting. During this presentation we described how “just culture” principles can be effectively used in evaluating and learning from medication errors. Our most important learning objective though, that I feel we truly accomplished today, was explaining how the use of tools such as continuous quality improvement can be utilized in the prevention of future tragic errors.

Yesterday evening, I had the opportunity to attend a wonderful dinner and opening reception for the Cleveland Clinic’s Medication Analytics, Safety & Technology Conference (MAST). This afternoon, I’m looking forward to participating in a CME titled “The Impact of Medication Errors on Healthcare Providers.” Afterwards, I’ll be heading to Nashville, where I feel very privileged to have another speaking engagement at the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) 119th Annual Meeting. Tomorrow morning’s presentation is titled “Just Culture – Creating a New Regulatory Mindset.”

Last Sunday, I felt so blessed & privileged to have the opportunity to be able to meet and speak with Granger Smith and his wife, Amber, at Adventure Church in Delaware Ohio. He gave a wonderful sermon with a great message about navigating through the trials and adversity in our lives, by focusing on James 1:2-4.

The week before last I had heard about Granger, a musician from Texas, who was making his final music tour called “Like a River”. He had made the announcement & bold decision to leave a successful career in country music to focus on ministry at his local church outside of Austin. In addition, he also has an upcoming memoir that I’m looking forward to reading which is scheduled to be released on Aug. 1st. It’s called “Like a River: Finding the Faith and Strength to Move Forward After Loss and Heartache.”

On June 4th of 2019, he was planning to head to Nashville for the CMT Music Awards the next day and then go on tour. Naturally, he was enjoying that evening spending time with his kids before he left on his trip. While helping his daughter London with her gymnastics, his youngest son, River, fell into their pool. Granger did everything he could to get to him in time, but he was too late. His three-year-old son River had tragically drowned.

We have much in common, not just with the unimaginable loss of our children, but we seem to have similar sentiments and perspectives about how strongly the grace of God has truly worked in our lives ever since…That God uses ALL the trials we face in life, ultimately for our good and for His glory…that He never allows pain without a purpose (Romans 8:28) and ALWAYS has a plan for our lives, even when we don’t understand or can’t even begin to comprehend in the moment, what those plans could possibly be (Jer. 29:11).

“It’s very personal. But the overwhelming feeling was that if my story could help others, then it’s worth it, then it matters” ~G. Smith

https://www.grangersmith.com/

Happy birthday my sweet baby girl in heaven! Even though you would be 19 years old today, you will always be my “baby girl” Emily! This time of year has always been so incredibly bittersweet for me. I love you and miss you so very much, but have such an inner peace and comfort, knowing that you are with the Good Lord now, and that I will see you again one day, where we will spend all of eternity together.

Ironically, in 2006, just like today, your birthday happened to be on a Friday. Despite the fact it was your birthday, after much conversation, your mother and I had made the tough decision to have you admitted to the hospital that morning, since this was to be your final three day round of chemotherapy. We were elated by the fact that only by God’s grace, a miracle had occurred, being given exactly the prognosis we had been hoping and praying for all along. We were told that the large tumor in your abdomen had completely disappeared and that this last treatment was supposed to make certain there were no residual cancer cells that might still be remaining that could possibly emerge later in life, causing you difficulty. Unfortunately, that Sunday, the day we were supposed to take you home and celebrate your recovery as a family, instead you went home to be with the Lord…a tragic preventable sterile IV medication compounding error occurred that horrible day, that ended up taking your life three days later, on March 1st.

Completely devastated, I remember thinking to myself, I don’t understand and can’t even begin to comprehend why this would even happen…You just cured her, now You’re taking her? Really? Now, I truly understand, what I didn’t back then. That God NEVER, allows pain without a purpose…“And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good for those who are called according to His purpose.” ~Romans 8:28

As a result, I am now convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that your short life here on earth…coupled with your legacy, which I am so pleased to say, lives on in the hearts and minds of so many around the globe, was truly meant to save quite possibly thousands of lives going forward!! As your daddy, I am eternally grateful that God blessed and gave me two amazing years with you here on earth!!

Happy Birthday, I love you sweetheart!

Daddy

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Thank you for the kind comments I received from many caregivers, associates, and friends who have used Emily’s powerful story during the course of their careers in patient safety! We are truly making a difference.

Feeling extremely grateful and privileged to have been asked to give another CME accredited presentation at the Cleveland Clinic for their upcoming Medication Analytics, Safety, & Technology Conference in May. It brings back wonderful memories of one of my very first grand rounds lectures for the Emily Jerry Foundation at the Cleveland Clinic’s main campus over a decade ago…really looking forward to it!!

Also, my sincere thanks for the kid words from both Sam Calabrese, Chief Pharmacy Officer at Cleveland Clinic, and Jeffrey Chalmers, Director of Pharmacy Informatics & Technology at Cleveland Clinic.

Today is “Giving Tuesday” and I’m really hoping that everyone will consider donating to the Emily Jerry Foundation, so we can continue providing vital programming & initiatives, like the Medication Safety Scholars Program, the Pediatric Safe Label Program, our National Pharmacy Technician Initiative & Interactive Scorecard, etc. We will never know exactly how many tragedies have been averted, or precisely how many lives have been saved…but isn’t just one life lost due to something that’s deemed “preventable,” way too many? Your generous contributions assist EJF in helping to stop tragedies before they happen by improving patient & medication safety overall, for everybody…ultimately, saving countless lives in the process!

Astoundingly, preventable medical error has been identified as the 3rd leading cause of death in the United States, claiming between 251,454, to over 440,000 lives annually. Unfortunately, tragic medication errors like the one that took my daughter Emily’s life in 2006, comprise the largest percentage of these deaths, nearly 50%.

I recognize, respect, and am extremely grateful for the simple fact that ALL healthcare providers, regardless of their modality, continually strive to ensure that every single patient receives care that safely delivers optimal outcomes.

Although, as the healthcare system’s medication experts, I have always viewed pharmacists as the providers best positioned to truly offer leadership and direction amongst their colleagues, with respect to the vital issues associated with overall medication safety within their facilities.

This is precisely why I am so pleased to announce that our first year for the Emily Jerry Foundation’s Medication Safety Scholars Program was such a huge success, awarding five student leaders their certificates of completion!!

Thank you in advance and God bless you all for your continued support of The Emily Jerry Foundation!

Make a charitable donation at: https://emilyjerryfoundation.org/donate/

As I’ve mentioned many times before, I consider my very unconventional career path, since my daughter Emily’s tragic passing in 2006, to be my true calling & my life’s work. Something I take very seriously every single day and always will. That said, naturally, sometimes I begin “hyper self-evaluating” and doubting the efficacy of my day-to-day efforts to help improve patient & medication safety overall…asking myself the same proverbial question, over and over again, “Am I really making a difference?” Every single time I have begun going down that path (more often than I would like to admit), I have been so incredibly blessed and encouraged over the years to receive such kind correspondence like this…a great reminder where I absolutely must keep my focus going forward…

“Chris, your courage to continue advocating for a system that failed your daughter years ago is admirable. I was not part of that particular system that failed Emily that day but I am part of the healthcare system and I have made mistakes and failed. I’ve heard your story many times and the main thing that stands out to me is your forgiveness. My heart sinks every time I hear what happened to Emily, my heart sinks every time I hear what happened to the pharmacist, but all I can think about when I hear about your forgiveness to the system and the pharmacist is Jesus. Only Jesus. You have taken a tragedy and saved many, many lives through your pain. You have been brave in your suffering. We need more people like you out there to help make us better. We could all live in the coulda, woulda, shoulda, but you are an example to so many to take what you have learned through a tragedy to ensure it never happens again. I know so many of us are thankful for your heart and your mission.

We can be better. We have to fight the fight and become safer for our patients. We have to be fully equipped to do our jobs to the best of our abilities each and every day.”

~Anonymous Healthcare Provider