Text Size: A
A
A
A
Students across Hamilton County are breathing easier thanks to a donation by East Brainerd business Express RX.
“With economic times the way they are, the school system sometimes can’t afford the diagnostic measures to help prevent the onset of diseases such as asthma,” business owner Jim Reed said of his decision to donate approximately $2,000 worth of mouthpieces and peak flow meters.
The meters are fitted with the disposable mouthpieces and then used to test a child’s asthma and attack levels.
“For the Hamilton County school system it was a huge, huge deal that every school had (a peak flow meter),” said Lisa Willard, who trained school professionals in their use. “The reason it’s so important is these kids have asthma attacks a lot. Asthma is just running rampant through Chattanooga.”
According to her, the city has one of the highest asthma rates in the nation, which Reed sees every day in his pharmacy.
“I’m fortunate — I’ve never had asthma, but I’ve got customers who do and it’s a miserable disease to have,” he said. “If you can prevent an attack or figure out when medication is needed by seeing how severe an attack is fixing to be, you can make their life a whole lot better.”
Attacks can be brought on physical activity, allergies, airborne irritants and a host of other things common in any school, according to Willard.
“I’ve always been a sucker for kids. There are sick kids in school,” said Reed. “The community has been good to me. I feel like if I can’t give back some of what has been given to me then I don’t deserve it.”
The McDonald resident opened his East Brainerd Road pharmacy more than six years ago to offer the community what he said it was missing — quick care.
“I came out to East Brainerd because at that time there were no independent pharmacies there,” he said. “Most people were complaining that they were having to drop their prescriptions off and come back two or three hours later. At Express RX, 10-minute service is the general rule.”
Reed also has a sick child express line, which allows parents with sick children in tow to go to the front of the prescription line.
“We have enough computer work stations in our pharmacy that we can move a child through immediately, as soon as their parents come in, without disrupting the flow of patients already there waiting for their prescriptions,” he said.
A native of Chattanooga, Reed is a certified pharmacy technician as well as compounder and spent 24 years working in his father’s pharmacy. His store has its own compounding lab on site, allowing it to mix customized treatments and medications.
del.icio.us
digg
Furl
Spurl
YahooMyWeb
co.mments
Ma.gnolia
De.lirio.us
blogmarks
BlinkList
NewsVine
scuttle
Fark
Shadows
Comments
Post a comment
Commenting requires registration.