EpiPen Lesson

This happened a while ago, but I remembered it again just today. A woman phoned the pharmacy and sounded fairly upset/stressed/panicked. She said she had just triggered an allergic reaction and was attempting to use her EpiPen for the first time. She explained that her lips were swelling and she was having difficulty breathing. I told her to, as quickly as possible, remove the pen from the plastic case, grip it firmly with her hand, remove the gray safety cap, and then "jam it" into her thigh. She specifically asked me which end she was to aim toward her thigh, and I said the "black tip end". I told her to put down the phone and follow those instructions right away. I heard, "Oh no. Oh no. Oh no." on the other end of the line, and I was worried she hadn't made it in time and was thinking maybe I should have asked her name so I could send the ambulance to her house. Well, she picked up the phone and said, while crying hysterically, "Oh no! I injected my thumb. Oh, oh, oh, oh...." I can't remember what I said in response to that, but I'm sure I was thinking, "You idiot." (She had the wrong end aiming into her thigh, and when she pressed hard to inject herself, the needle came out the side with her thumb over it.) Anyway, she said her thumb was swelling and that it hurt terribly. I asked her how her breathing was, and she immediately stopped sobbing and said, "Hey, I can breathe now. Oh, I can breathe!" Then she started crying again, "But my thumb! My thumb!!! What's gonna happen!?!?!" I gave her some advice on something she could do to help the swelling, and we both learned that day that an EpiPen still works, even if you inject your thumb. It's probably the more painful way to go, however.