These are the 'guardian angels' of Sierra Nevada skiers

Adolfo Pascual Rico has snow in his blood

.

He has been the owner, for five years, of the only one that exists in Sierra Nevada, belonging to the town of Monachil (Granada).

Here he works, after following the legacy of his father, also a pharmacist in this apothecary and a doctor.

In addition, he is a skier, so

Of course, he explains that

: "In summer it goes up a bit, and in July and August we serve an average of 15 people a day. Here in summer everyone goes to the beach. At least now it's getting a bit more encouraged, and for about eight years We are no longer going to losses in July and August", he sums up.

Adolfo Pascual Rico, owner of the only pharmacy in Sierra Nevada (Granada). EU

He explains that

: "It was there for five years, but the pharmacist left because it was not profitable. People see this in winter and it may seem to them that it is very profitable, but no."

Rico explains that he does not know of any pharmacy in Spain that is alone at the foot of the track and details that the fixed population is 50 people, even though there are 200 registered.

I go from serving about 600 people a day in high season, from December to May, to two the rest of the year

Despite having much weaker months, Rico clarifies that it "compensates for him. I have neither profit nor loss."

Of course,

.

"The only time we were at risk of being so was during the coronavirus, in 2020. Nobody could go skiing, only the people of Granada."

, but I'm from here: from the Sierra Nevada, since the day I was born. Although I'm getting older, everyone here treats me as if I were their son."

He points out, with a laugh, that since the outbreak of the coronavirus, he attends to at least one person every day

: "Before, we were open all day and no one came in," he recalls.

In winter it is open from 9 a.m. to 8:30 p.m., "although,

.

It has a staff of five people from May to November, a month in which it hires another two people to receive orders and to learn the dynamics of the pharmacy: "Every year I generally change staff, because in summer I cannot support them"

In the summer there is only him and an assistant pharmacist, "basically to make the substitutions."

What is the majority of the public that enters your pharmacy demanding?

"Here we touch all branches, because they come from Galicia, Catalonia and Madrid as well as from France, Portugal, Italy... But what

.

Problems with pharmaceutical distribution?

"None. Actually, with the distributor I work with, it has always turned to us. During the winter season it gives us two daily services, snow, thunder... it always comes; and in the summer season, one," he says.

Have you ever been referred to a doctor?

"The clinic is about 50 meters away and we have direct contact with them. During the season we refer a lot of people every day," he says.

Of course, he explains that

: "In summer they come two or three days a week, two hours," he qualifies.

For this reason, he recalls that his father came to act as a pharmacist and also as a doctor, "of course, without being able to prescribe, but giving medical-pharmaceutical advice."

Accidents and pathologies of altitude sickness

Eva Gutiérrez Pérez knows well how to work in the Sierra Nevada office,

also

, something to which she opposed from minute one.

He worked there as a doctor for 16 years, from 2005 to 2021, and now works in the Traumatology Emergency Service of the Virgen de las Nieves Hospital (Granada): "In Sierra Nevada there is nothing else, apart from the pharmacy and this doctor's office that It depends on the public system in Andalusia. In summer it only worked from Monday to Friday, and in winter we did have a 24-hour medical team."

Isabel López Ramón

, a doctor since 1992,

and explains how the number of patients changes in high season and the rest of the year: "In low season there are doctors two days a week, two hours, and we have an average of 5 patients a day (maximum, 10). In high season, when we are there 24 hours a day, we can easily reach 100 patients a day," he sums up.

And

, Adolfo Pascual Rico, especially on the issue of shortages: "If we don't call him, we're lost," she says.

The doctor Eva Gutiérrez Pérez (second from the right) with the team from the Sierra Nevada office, where she practiced from 2005 to 2021.UE

Gutiérrez Pérez recalls that

, and

"We were there 24 hours a day, but the patients concentrated on us during the opening hours of the slopes, from 10 morning to 6 p.m.," he says.

.

The medical team consists daily of a doctor, a nurse and a technician for 24 hours

;

In addition,

who is there from approximately 10 in the morning to 6 in the afternoon.

"And this is rotating", qualifies Gutiérrez Pérez.

There are altitude sickness that have become complicated by cerebral edema

What kind of ailments do they treat?

Trauma, mainly?

"No.

There is everything and it depends on the time of year. In summer it is more of a day-to-day consultation: we have

.

And it is that altitude sickness, as he explains, is very frequent in Sierra Nevada: "Although the altitude does not seem much compared to the Andean or Himalayas, we have many cases; some have even become complicated with cerebral edema

.

How are non-serious cases of altitude sickness treated?

"Normally we give them oxygen therapy, but

. Adolfo was precisely one of those who had it in the pharmacy, because we usually prescribe it; in other pharmacies they have to ask for it ".

Permanent contact with the pharmacist "is very common in small places. In a place like this it is impossible not to be in relationship with the pharmacy. You have to agree on the medication you are going to prescribe or, at least, the pharmacist it adapts to the medication that we usually prescribe. If we know that the patient performs better with a series of drugs, they tend to have them more available," says Gutiérrez Pérez.

Likewise, he comments that, given the size of the town, "the population has a lot of confidence in the pharmacist and almost always turns to him before the doctor. Above all, because the pharmacist is available more hours than the doctor's office

.

In fact, he clarifies that the inhabitants who live in the Sierra Nevada are not very likely to go to the doctor: "They are mountain people, quite tough. And Adolfo, the pharmacist, is always the one who gives you the alarm and refers the patient to the office. What's more,

And he called us to tell us that a patient had to be convinced to visit us."

The medical team, assisting an injured person in Sierra Nevada.UE

Specifically,

who was unable to be sent to the hospital: "The man survived thanks to Adolfo's intervention."

To what extent can you monitor patients, considering the large number of tourists?

"In winter we do it not only with those from here, but also with displaced people, such as hotel workers who come to work all season. And many have chronic pathologies, such as diabetes, cholesterol, hypertension... The analyzes are We do them here. Even though some of them live in Granada, since they spend long periods of time here, their doctor is the one from Sierra Nevada. I have had patients from Malaga," he says.

In the same sense, López Ramón also adds that

.

Another aspect that Gutiérrez Pérez remembers is

When the patients were already traveling to their provinces of origin, they did not want to change doctors. For example, for rhinitis allergy that we already had controlled here...".

They also coordinate emergencies

: "Both in winter and summer we have moved with the ambulance, if the state of the road allowed it, or with the ski motorcycle of the

, from the Cetursa rescue services, the public company that manages the Sierra Nevada ski resort", he stresses.

Likewise, there is the possibility of having a helicopter

, from the Public Health Emergencies Company of the Junta de Andalucía (EPES SAS), which is 061: "It is located in Baza (Granada). When a medicalized transfer is required and there is availability, the patient is moved by the team that comes from Granada or, if not, they come from Malaga. We let them know".

According to the criteria of The Trust Project

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