By Neil Trainis

A pharmacy team in Sheffield saved the lives of two people who had overdosed by using skills they learned during training sessions provided by a drug and alcohol support service and a charity just days earlier.

Staff at Wicker Pharmacy, which is run by Martin Bennett (pictured) and claims to have been open every day since it opened in January 1952, took part in training on how to administer naloxone which was provided by the support service Likewise in partnership with charity Humankind.

A week or so after the sessions, Joseph Ridge, a trainee pharmacy technician at the pharmacy, went to help someone who had collapsed in the street and called his colleagues to bring a defibrillator and naloxone kits.

Despite administering the medication, the person did not respond but Ridge gave them a second dose after a couple of minutes and the individual recovered before an ambulance arrived.

“A member of the public came into the pharmacy reception and said that someone had collapsed nearby,” he said, recounting the incident. “As soon as I could, I went down the street and saw three other members of the public stood around the person collapsed on the floor. The members of the public were already on the phone to the ambulance service.”

Ridge added: “Thankfully, the person did then come around. They still weren’t fully with us, but they were now moving on the floor. Quite quickly after that, the emergency services arrived and continued to tend to them.”

In the same week, Wicker Pharmacy staff saved the life of another person they suspected was suffering an opioid overdose on the premises.

Greg Fell, the director of public health at Sheffield City Council, said the “prompt actions” of Ridge and his team and the fact they had taken the naloxone training “undoubtedly saved the lives of two people.”

“Naloxone is a game-changer, it is effective and very simple to use. Training can be provided,” Fell said. Sheffield City Council said it is “reviewing and expanding the provision of naloxone across the city.”

Bennett told Independent Community Pharmacist: "We ran basic life support training earlier this month for 10 or so staff. It’s an annual event. Unfortunately we have had a lot of experience of having to provide basic life support, especially since Covid. It's not easy and can be quite traumatic for those involved."