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On behalf of the Emily Jerry Foundation, I had the great privilege of being able to give a virtual presentation on preventable medical error at Becton Dickinson’s (BD) U.S. Regional Leadership Meeting last week.  As I always do, I felt very grateful to have the opportunity to share many of the personal details surrounding my daughter Emily’s tragic passing. It’s important to me because her legacy, plus the simple fact that we ALL receive healthcare during our lifetime, helps people to truly relate and learn from the important lessons associated with the horrible medication error that took her life in 2006.

I also had a chance to convey a very important message.  It was simply that BD’s systems & solutions, are not only improving and impacting the quality of care, for so many patients around the world, they are also helping to save countless lives from preventable medical error too. To that point, even though there are many, I used their Pyxis IV Prep System as a very clear example.  It’s designed to help assist in eliminating the probability of “human error” from creeping into the sterile IV compounding process.  With its integrated barcode verification, gravimetric technology, ability to immediately detect errors, etc., this IV workflow system, not only would have saved my beautiful daughter Emily’s life…going forward, upon implementation, it stands to save so many others as well. Bottom line, these types of IV workflow systems, are as important to overall medication safety, in the sterile IV compounding process, as seatbelts & airbags are to safety in cars!

I would like to genuinely thank Tracie Adams, BD‘s Vice President of Marketing, for inviting me to speak and providing this wonderful opportunity!

During these very trying times that we are all striving to emerge from, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to the Emily Jerry Foundation this holiday season.  Your gift, no matter how big, or how small, will be greatly appreciated.  It will help our foundation to be able to continue working on behalf of you and your family, constantly striving to improve medication safety and supporting our ongoing mission to make healthcare safer for everyone, ultimately saving lives from preventable medical error!

To make a tax-deductible donation today visit our donate page.

Receiving correspondence like this, over the past few weeks, is not only an immense blessing for me personally, it’s further confirmation that Emily’s legacy continues to live on in so many positive ways!! She’s certainly not being forgotten, and she’s changing countless lives in so many positive ways!!

Mr. Jerry,

I first met you many years ago when you traveled to Union Hospital in Dover, Ohio to share your tragic story. As a young caregiver, that had a profound impact on me in how I approached my patients. I promised myself that if God ever placed me in a position of leadership, I would share your story as we addressed policy and change in our journey to becoming a highly reliable organization. Since then, I’ve had that opportunity many times. Thank you! Blessings!

Chris B.

Hello,

My name is Audra Whitton, and I’m a nurse as well as an educator for nursing students. I discovered your foundation while researching
medication errors during one of my master’s projects, and I’ve been so impressed by the work you do. As a pediatric nurse, Emily’s story breaks my heart, but it’s been inspiring to see how you took that awful situation and turned it into so much good for other people.

I thought you might like to know that I’ve included Emily’s pictures in a PowerPoint for my junior nursing students on safe medication administration. I like for them to see the faces of individuals whose lives were forever changed (and, in some cases, tragically ended) by medication errors – not to scare them, but to make them more cautious when they start giving medication.

Basically, I just wanted to take this opportunity to say thanks for all you do; it’s so important to look at systems change and how we can make medical care safer for everyone.

Thanks,
Audra W., MSN, RN

I am very pleased to say that my friend, Angela Rei Asatrian, has formally released her very important documentary called “Never Events.” Right after my daughter Emily’s tragic death, from a medication error in 2006, I really thought what had happened to her, had to have been a remote possibility, or a freak accident. Many people today, have the same kind of sentiments I did initially, that these types of medical errors are a very rare occurrence, and are completely unaware that preventable medical error has now been identified as the third leading cause of death in the United States. This makes it an issue that affects each and every one of us, as well as, our loved ones, simply due to the fact that we ALL receive healthcare during the course of our lifetime.

This documentary really goes in depth, in terms of highlighting stories, like my daughter Emily’s, and the clinician/caregivers that have been involved in preventable medical harm. In addition, you will hear about the valuable “lessons learned,” and the thoughts and opinions related to these stories, from some of the leading experts in healthcare and patient safety.

If you have the opportunity, I highly recommend watching it this weekend!

Trailer:

Available on: Amazon, iTunes, AppleTV, Google Play, Microsoft, etc.

Yesterday, my daughter Emily’s story was referenced in this compelling article that appeared in Forbes, titled “Saving Millions of Lives per Year with Intelligent Automation.”

As many of you are already aware, over the years, I have been a very outspoken proponent for the smart adoption, and implementation of technology in healthcare, as the way to eradicate “human error” and save lives.

I am so grateful that Emily’s short life here on earth continues to be remembered in this way, that so many are truly learning from what happened, it’s such a blessing to me as her dad!  It tells me Emily’s legacy continues to live on, positively impacting the lives of so many others!

Read the full article here at Forbes.com by clicking here.

I felt very honored and privileged to have given the keynote for the #NYSCHP Virtual Annual Assembly last week. It was truly a blessing to have the opportunity to show my sincere gratitude and thank their membership for “making good” on an important promise that was made.

In June of 2012, I attended an ASHP House of Delegates Meeting in Baltimore, where the Emily Jerry Foundation’s new National Pharmacy Technician Initiative and Interactive Scorecard was being introduced.  Back then, there were 6 states that had zero regulation of their Pharmacy Technicians, and unfortunately, New York was one of them.

On that same day, shortly after the announcement of our new initiative, some #NYSCHP members, led by Leigh Briscoe-Dwyer (NY House Delegate), introduced themselves and pledged to do everything they possibly could to get this vital legislation passed.  This is why I am so pleased to be able to say to everyone, that earlier this week, a new law went into effect in New York, recognizing Pharmacy Technicians as licensed professionals and their promise was kept!

So grateful!

Eight years ago, the Emily Jerry Foundation was able to launch its first large scale program, called the National Pharmacy Technician Initiative and Interactive Scorecard, to help assist organization like the New York Council for Health-System Pharmacists (NYSCHP). This program was initially created with the guidance of a wonderful team of people at ASHP, an on-going collaborative partnership that continues to this day!

Today, I would like to congratulate the members of NYSCHP on the passage of a new law in the state of New York that truly recognizes Pharmacy Technicians as a licensed part of the clinical team! Pharmacy Technicians play such a vital role in medication safety! This is precisely why I would like to thank you all, from the bottom of my heart, for being so tenacious in your pursuit of this important piece of legislation and never giving up!! God bless

The week before last, on March 31st, I was fortunate to be able to speak to more of our future leaders in healthcare, this time, to the students and faculty of Texas A&M’s School of Pharmacy.

I was really grateful to have this chance to honor Emily’s short life here on earth, in this very special way. I received feedback afterwards, that the students were really impacted by her powerful story, and the valuable lessons that had been learned from what had tragically happened in 2006 with the medication error.

As I have alluded to before, the month of March has always been a very poignant time of year for me, to say the least, it was when Emily left this earth and went to Heaven. This is why I feel so blessed and thankful, to have been given this opportunity, especially this year, to have been able to finish the month off on such a wonderful note!

A special thanks to Koren Dunn for organizing this event!

Most of my friends and colleagues know that typically February and March are usually such a bittersweet time of the year for me personally. These are the months that not only include the beautiful memories of Emily’s birth and infancy, but they also tragically contain a few of the absolute worst, like that horrible day the medication error actually occurred and her passing.

This year, I feel so blessed to be able to say, that these past few months were made far sweeter, than they were bitter, in previous years. On Emily’s birthday, February 24th, I was so grateful for the wonderful opportunity to speak to over 100 students and faculty from D’Youville College’s School of Health Professions via Zoom! Their support, on that special day, made it so much easier, and for that I am extremely thankful!

A special thanks to Emily Machlowski for organizing this event!

The following article just ran in a USA Today insert and was posted online yesterday. It has a few of my general thoughts on some of the most valuable lessons learned, from my daughter Emily’s tragic death in 2006. It was written for a new patient safety campaign that is a digital collection of relevant articles, from recognized safety leaders from around the globe, many of which, I am pleased to say, I’ve had the great privilege of working with over the past decade! Preventable medical errors are a vital issue that affect each and every one of us, because we ALL receive healthcare during the course of our lifetime…More importantly, so do our loved ones!!

Read the USA Today Article here: https://www.futureofpersonalhealth.com/patient-safety/after-his-daughters-death-one-man-starts-a-foundation-to-raise-awareness-of-medical-errors/

Happy Birthday my sweet Emily! The memories are so vivid, it almost seems like you were here with us just yesterday, and yet it’s hard to imagine that you left this world, to go and be with the Lord, in heaven, almost 15 years ago. As your daddy I’m thinking, here we are today, my baby girl would have actually been 17 years old. I truly look forward to that day when we are reunited in heaven, and I get to see you again!

I know I have said this before, but it’s so true, your legacy continues to live on, every single day, in the hearts and minds of so many people in healthcare and around the globe, who ALL know you by name! I’m so extremely proud to be your dad! Your short life here on earth has sparked such a tremendous amount of positive change, not only in patient and medication safety, but also in how the world views, and responds, to preventable medical error when it occurs. Tragedies are being prevented and lives are being saved because of your legacy!!

Love,
Dad