Pharmacist Rescues Young Girl Having an Asthma Attack

A New Jersey pharmacist recently went above and beyond to care for a young girl having an acute asthma attack.

Suzanne Soliman, PharmD, of US Pharmacy Lab in Northvale, New Jersey, got a call from a pediatrician about a 10-year-old patient in trouble.

The pediatrician was calling in an order for prednisolone for a girl named Madison Tracy, and Dr. Soliman realized she would need to drive over to the patient’s house to get the medicine to her as quickly as possible because the family had already called 911.

“I figured it would be necessary to drive it to the patient, given the fact that the patient did not have a steroid at home, and the paramedics do not administer the steroid,” Dr. Soliman told Pharmacy Times.

When Dr. Soliman arrived at the house, she saw Madison in acute respiratory distress, undergoing a nebulizer treatment. Around 10 officials, including paramedics and police officers, were at the scene.

Dr. Soliman said she thought the experience helped break down some stereotypes about what pharmacists do.

“I really believe, as pharmacists, we can do so much and are so accessible to the community,” she said. “It was amazing how many people on site said, ‘Wow, I didn’t know a pharmacist could do that.’”

Madison’s mother, Danielle, told Northern Valley that Madison hadn’t been feeling well and had a cold. Madison’s pediatrician wanted to wait to put her on a steroid because she had been on lots of medicine and had various medical issues in the past, including a seizure. When Madison came home from the doctor’s office, her condition became progressively worse, so her mother called 911.

Dr. Soliman arrived, gave Madison the treatment, and waited until the young girl got into an ambulance.

Dr. Soliman told Pharmacy Times that she had never been in a situation like this before and had not met the Tracy family before the incident. Since then, however, the pharmacist and the family members have become close friends.

“We now have an excellent relationship,” she said.