The VGH Graveyard Techs
The VGH Graveyard Techs
Kwaku Bennuah
Shazia Azad
Profile submitted by: Jung In Kim and Alison Yong
Brief description of role or responsibilities
Submitted by: Jung In Kim
Kwaku and Shazia are the “Graveyard Techs” who work from 11 PM to 7 AM alone in the dispensary. Their roles include receiving urgent medication requests, compounding and sending adequate supply of medications until the next morning, triaging phone calls from prescribers and redirecting them to the on-call pharmacist, and preparing batch fill items for the following day.
Submitted by: Alison Yong
They are our overnight graveyard techs (i.e. the unsung heroes of VGH) – triage phone calls, compound and deliver medications to the units overnight.
Describe how the individual or team made a positive contribution to patient care or their pharmacy department:
Submitted by: Jung In Kim
Without the graveyard technicians, VGH pharmacy would not be able to supply units with critical medications promptly during the night. They go above and beyond to triage and ensure problems are dealt with in a timely manner. They are always willing to help the on-call pharmacists with positive attitude. All staff at VGH pharmacy sends a huge kudos to Kwaku and Shazia for their hard work. We cannot imagine a night without you two!
Submitted by: Alison Yong
There’s nothing quite so jarring as being startled awake from your Wildest Dreams at 2:37AM only to be told that you need to return to work and make ATG.
And while the closing techs are magnanimous enough to lay everything out in advance – vented needles, syringes, alcohol swabs even, the anxiety persists as you kangaroo pouch precious vials of ATG to room temperature. Because no matter how many times you’ve pored over the laminated instruction sheet, you’re just never quite…Ready for It.
Those of us unfortunate enough to have experienced just such a scenario once, twice, or tragically thrice, certainly wouldn’t recommend it…quite frankly, none of us are that Mean.
Luckily though, our Fearless overnight techs are there to save the collective sanities of the on-call pharmacists. From triaging early morning calls to dutifully reciting lab values over the phone before the era of CST, to valiantly attempting to Shake [It] Off a 5:52AM request for KCl through a central line, they are the unsung heroes of the department.
Their quick thinking and expertise have prevented countless scenarios where one of us (i.e. me) blearily approaches management post-call with the reassuring opener, “I Did Something Bad.” Frankly, without our graveyard techs, I know All Too Well that VGH pharmacists alone would have depleted what little stock of prazosin remained.
To Kwaku and Shazia, your colleagues are grateful to be able to say, “It’s Nice to Have a Friend,” particularly if that friend doesn’t take two and a half hours to make ATG.