Promoting Heart Health Awareness During American Heart Month

In an interview with Pharmacy Times, Felicia Scott PharmD, MBA, discussed Giant Pharmacy's new CPR training program where certified pharmacists provide CPR instruction and recertification to staff, technicians, and the community. Scott also discussed how during American Heart Month, pharmacists can raise awareness about heart health through partnering with in-store nutritionists on healthy shopping, and providing blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol screenings at community events.

Hi there, I'm Felicia Scott. I am a pharmacist with Giant Pharmacy. I managed one of their several locations of the Baltimore City.

Key Takeaways

Giant Pharmacy offers a CPR training program where pharmacists provide instruction and recertification to staff, technicians, and the community.
During American Heart Month, pharmacists can raise awareness about heart health through partnering with in-store nutritionists on topics like healthy shopping and providing health screenings at community events.
The importance of knowing your key health numbers like blood pressure, blood glucose, and cholesterol through regular screenings in order to monitor for any changes.

Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation or CPR for short, is a very lifesaving technique that's used when a person stops breathing or their heart stops beating. It's essential. It's critical in the essence of time, maybe when emergency personnel are not available, and it can double or even triple survival rates.

Can you give an overview on the new CPR training program that Giant has started.

Giant pharmacy has instituted a CPR program whereby pharmacists that are certified instructors go out into the community and train the late individual in CPR instruction. We also use that same platform to retrain or recertify our pharmacists that are already CPR certified. Providing CPR renewal for also our pharmacy technicians that are immunizers, and other staff members throughout the chain.

You can reach out to us at giantfood.com to set up an event if you want to house your own in-house events. We also go on to the community and work with different organizations for community and health fairs.

Since February is American Heart Month, how can pharmacists raise awareness about heart health during this month?

Yes, we take this time, not for granted. We'd like to share the importance of heart healthy living, healthy eating, and other techniques to improve survival rates. We partner with our very own in store nutritionists. We talk about healthy shopping — how do people go out and shop for heart healthy foods. We also go out into the community for certain expos or health fairs or community events. Our pharmacists will provide blood pressure, blood glucose cholesterol screenings. We want the people to know their numbers. You know, what are your average numbers? What do they look like? That way if there's an escalation, you can notify your health professional. We just partner overall with the community to advocate for healthy living, healthy eating, and healthy lifestyle.