Welcome to Texas Pharmacy Stars.  I will be featuring  a different Pharmacist from around Texas every month.  These are folks who practice everyday doing what Pharmacists are trained to do. If you would like to nominate a Pharmacists from your area please e-mail me at Carole.Hardin-Oliver@walgreens.com.  I will contact them do get the story and write it up. Thank you.

In Dayton Texas there is no hospital... no EMS or ambulance service. There are a couple of medical providers that have limited office hours and a couple of NP's who have limited hours also. Dayton also has a couple of pharmacies that serve the community.

One afternoon a landscaping worker was stung by and insect and had an allergic reaction that progressed further and further towards anaphyaxis. He fell to the ground outside between the local pharmacy and the Sonic. His co-workers realized that he was in serious trouble and ran into the Pharmacy to get help.

Allera Porter PharmD was on duty and ran outside to assist. The man gestured that he had an inhaler in his truck and she retrieved it and assisted him in using it. No result - he continued to progress into anaphylaxis. His friends thought he had Epi-pens, they were found and Allera administered them both....no improvement...nothing was working...   The man died.   No pulse...no respiration...  

Allera is trained in CPR, as are most Pharmacists, and she began one person CPR. The man's friends had previously called 911. But there is no ambulance in Dayton Texas and the nearest EMS responders were 20 minutes away.  Allera began CPR and continued it as she had been trained until medical assistance arrived. The man was unresponsive. The EMS team took over an loaded him into the ambulance. Allera communicated the steps taken to the EMS team and returned to the pharmacy. The ambulance did not race off...it stayed in the parking lot for quite a while then slowly pulled away.  Lights and sirens - off they went.  

Later that evening a line of local police officers walked up to the Pharmacy window. The man had been revived by EMS and Hospital treatment and was alive and/doing well in the nearest Hospital! Each police officer in that line personally thanked Allera Porter PharmD for her actions in saving this man's life.  

Allera Porter is a Texas Pharmacy Star. She did what we are all trained to do. She practices every day in Dayton Texas and does what we all do, takes care of the patients in her town, when emergency action is needed. She is trained and ready.  

Thank you Allera Porter - You Are a Texas Pharmacy Star!