(upbeat music) - Tell me when you're ready.

(gentle music) My name is Maria Fazio.

Ooh.

(Maria laughs) I work at Lehigh Valley Hospital in Hazleton in their pharmacy department, and I have worked there for 32 years.

It's apparent that I love what I do because I've been doing it for 30-some years.

I feel we're very helpful in the healthcare community.

Honey, I'm the oldest one in here.

Funny story.

The reason I became a pharmacy technician, I was hired over at St. Joseph Hospital in Hazleton, in the central supply department.

This one's me.

My boss, Joe Caputo, he decided that he was going to cross-train his people.

And the girl that I switched with, she decided she wanted to stay in central, and then I stayed in pharmacy.

(upbeat music) Yeah, we do a lot of computer work.

Pharmacy technician jobs in this hospital are very interesting because there are different shifts.

You come in at six o'clock, you make your IVs.

You come in at seven o'clock, you are loading Omnicell machines with meds.

So there's different aspects of the job.

One of the key things is making intravenous drugs, which are antibiotics, which if you come outta surgery, it's much easier to take an intravenous drug.

It helps you to heal quicker.

Also, if you come into the ER and you're having a stroke, we will make an intravenous that will explode the blood clot, you know, wherever it is.

And you have to be very careful 'cause you cannot mix up medications 'cause that affects the patient.

You have to be very careful in what you're doing.

Okay, this is our IV room.

A lot of our antibiotics come pre-made.

There's a lot that we have to pre-make ourselves and run labels for.

A lot of our antibiotics also come frozen, and they have to be thawed out.

And these go up on the floor, in the machines that we put everything in, so that they're right on hand if the nurse needs them, or they're sent up specifically per patient after surgery.

To become a pharmacy technician, I understand there is a course you can take.

I did take a course many years ago, (laughs) and it was simple.

It was an 18-month course.

And at the time, I was still working in central supply when I took the pharmacy course, and I passed it.

Okay, Doreen, I'm going to unit dose these.

You wanna check the lot and expiration number on these?

- [Doreen] Sure thing.

- Every year, I have to do continuing education.

And it teaches you new aspects, ways to do different things.

So you're always learning something in the pharmacy.

(light music) I need a pair of gloves.

Could I step away and get a pair of gloves?

The things I find most rewarding about working as a pharmacy technician in this hospital is the patients that are coming in that need medications to heal or need medications to keep their heart beating.

I'm making those.

I'm saving those parents, those children.

That's what I like.

Okay, this is very important.

This is a code crash cart.

This saves people's lives who are having heart attacks.

They will use the items on here.

This epinephrine on here is to keep your heart going.

There's dextrose on here in case your sugar is crashing.

There's other IVs that the doctors use to regulate your heartbeat on here, and this is what you use when your heart has stopped beating up on the floor.

And the nurses and the doctors will take this into the room, and whatever they use on here, it comes back down to the pharmacy and we replace the drugs on here so that the next time someone's heart fails, this cart is ready for them to use, with all the medications on that they need to keep somebody's heart going.

(upbeat music) I like the people I work with.

- [Doreen] You're good.

- Thank you.

- You're welcome.

- After 30-some years, you get very close to the people you work with.

I guess I just enjoy, I don't know, just helping people.

We're helping people get well that are coming in the hospital, so.