Hey Ya'll,
I last wrote about how the fish had finally arrived in town and how I was
able to get out two Sunday's ago and catch a few big ones. Well the joy was
short lived as it's been raining off and on every day since. Of course
sometimes the rain still turns to snow but it doesn't have much of a chance once
it hits the ground. The positive effect of this is it hastens the thaw out and
the annual (although it only lasts about four months) exodus of the ice. The
negative side is it has made the ice on the sound unstable and unpredictable
with many areas of open water. So to those of us with supposed "good sense",
this means we have to wait till breakup to start fishing again. Of course some
hardy, i.e.: stu... folks, continue to go out and fish. The question is being a
health professional, should I complain? From a public health stand point this
creates an obvious need for teaching. From an emergency standpoint this is good
practice for cold weather emergencies such as hypothermia protocols, codes,
medevacs, etc. For the OB folks this creates a need for a high birth rate. So,
all of these combined constitute a reason for our being here, it's called "job
security". Naw, really I just shake my head in amazement and frustration as it
will probably take a few dunkings before folks realize it's not safe out there.
Patty and I took a ride mothers day and we were able to get a few miles
down the beach. The first few hundred yards still had ice and snow from the
edge of the tundra down to the partially thawed sound and the ride on the 4
wheelers was interesting to say the least. It was worth the excitement though as
the migrating water fowl are showing up in numbers. We saw plenty of ducks,
some geese, and even two swans flying. We found out recently that we are allowed
to hunt waterfowl under the subsistence laws since we live in a subsistence area
and have for over a year. What this means is most waterfowl and migratory birds
are fair game for hunting and egg gathering. Again, for a lot of folks this is
a way of life as described by Vernetta Mobly in my last email. We have not been
out to hunt them and we may not unless the chance arises. The usual way to hunt
them this time of year is to go out onto the slushy tundra on snowmachines, but
with the rapid thaw and the rain, most of the ice is now gone. So if you want
to hunt, the only way is to travel the tundra on 4 wheelers which is bone
jarring to say the least. Folks are doing it though and are being rewarded with
fresh duck and goose in the freezer, roasted, and in stews and soups. Patty
came home the other day and told me the board was in town and having meetings at
the building where she works. The board is made up of representatives from all
11 villages and Kotzebue, and they make business decisions for the region.
Human Resources where Patty works was responsible for making lunch for them one
day. She told me someone came into the office with a number of ducks and geese
as a donation for the feed. Patty works with a number of local women and all of
them looked at each other with puzzled looks. The birds were fresh-so fresh they
were still equipped with heads, feathers, feet, intestines, steel shot........
None of the women knew how to clean and dress them. I told Patty it's a shame
that she and the other nonnatives have seemingly turned those poor folks away
from their traditional ways. Someone from elsewhere in the building came and
volunteered to clean and cook them. It is my understanding they are now part of
a nice soup (sans feathers, feet, heads etc. of course, although I'm not sure
about the steel shot).
Operation Arctic Care ended last weekend and the military presence is
gone. They were quite productive in the villages and even here in Kotzebue
providing dental care, sports physicals, immunizations, routine medical exams,
and scoping procedures here in town. There were a number of veterinarians who
provided shots, spaying of animals, and routine care. One of the upstairs
apartments is inhabited by a hospital staff member who is also a corp. member.
(The corp. is made up of different health care workers who sign up just like the
military and can be deployed in an emergency. They get military benefits and
can retire after 20 years but they are not reserve folks and do not go through
basic training.) Well for the last three weeks there have been no less than
seven military people living up there while he was deployed to one of the
villages-some Army, some Navy, some Marine, some Air Force, and of course, some
corp. The first week they were in town we made a big pot of gumbo, Cathy made
some pecan pies, and we had some of them down to eat. After I got back from
Selawik one of them asked if he could use our bar-b-queue grill. I told him to
go ahead but the fuel tank was empty. He took the tank the next day and filled
it ($32.00 here to fill a 20lb propane bottle) and invited us for steaks. That
evening we made a big pot of green beans and potatoes with sausage, took a pecan
pie out of the freezer, and made a big pan of apple crisp. I went to the store
and brought home a gallon of vanilla ice cream to boot ($12.00). The guys
cooked steaks, corn on the cob, baked potatoes-all of which they flew in from
their home base in Washington. They baked some sheefish one of them had caught
and made a killer salad. We had a heck of a feed that night and enjoyed the
company. We had to dodge some of the sleeping bags in the impromptu bivouac up
there, but living in the bush always has it's challenges. The guys made us
promise not to mention the meals as there were a number of their fellow military
in town living on cots in a dorm like setting at the national guard armory.
Their meals consisted of what they bought and military issue MRE's, the guys
upstairs felt they would be less than happy. I did score some MRE's to carry on
my trips to the villages which was also a plus. I like them although they are
high in calories.
The last two weeks we at Public Health have all been involved with end of
school year screenings here in Kotzebue. This consisted of us setting up last
week in the Middle/High School, and this week in the elementary school. We,
along with the Child Find folks are doing heights, weights, TB shots, eye exams,
scoliosis checks, diabetes checks, hearing exams, and blood counts on selected
grades. Keeping up with the paper work and all the rug rats is challenging to
say the least. I feel like the heckler on the infield in baseball as I keep up
a constant chatter to needle shy kids. I feel more exhausted when I go home
after these ordeals then I did after working 12 hour shifts. The kids are cute
and fun though (in smaller doses would be nice of course). The first part of
the week is chasing them all down and testing them. The last part of the week
is spent trying to track down all the ones we shot checking for TB results.
Leaving the school the other day I looked at Kevin, a fellow PHN who recently
immigrated here from Idaho, who was sitting on his 4 wheeler and I on mine, and
asked if he ever dreamed he would be making house calls in the arctic on 4
wheelers.
One side effect of this job I've found is that on the
return from Selawik, I had a stomach bug and after seeing a total of about 500
kids here in Kotz, I now have a cold, something I have not had in almost a
year-thanks kids. Honestly, sometimes I miss working ER and wonder if I did the
right thing. Other times I enjoy what I do now. As I have said to others, right
now the jury is still out. I do know this will make me more versatile in the
future and for now that is enough. I still don't know what I want to be when I
grow up.
A few weeks ago there was a group in town consisting of people from all
around the world looking at our telemed system. The system has been updated
recently with not only the capability of transmitting video and sound, but still
pictures can be taken and sent via the net as well. The system also consists of
fiber optic cameras capable of looking in ears, noses, and doing close-ups of
anything that may be necessary. Evidently ours is one of only a few systems
being in constant, productive use. I recently spoke with a nurse from Bethel, a
hub town in the bush in the middle of southwest Alaska. He said they had the
system in at least some of the clinics but most of them and the doctors did not
use it. This amazed me as Bethel has over 30 villages they care for.
Cathy got to sit on stage Wednesday in cap and gown again. She recently
completed a course and passed boards on becoming a certified nursing assistant.
After adamantly stating for the last few years she didn't want to go into
medicine, she was hired as a patient care tech in outpatient a few months ago.
She found out she kind of likes getting to abuse people in a legal manner
(that's called patient care). She took the course offered here at the Tech
Center. On the east side of town is a huge yellow building where folks from all
around the region have the opportunity to take courses as diverse as CNA to
business, to boilermaking, (my term) and so on. The folks in from the villages
stay at a special building just for students as they attend school. Cathy plans
on going to nursing school in August of '05 in Anchorage.
The graduation was held in the Church of Latter Day Saints across from the
tech center. It is a round building that upon entering is dorm like with a
stage up front. Chairs were set up in the middle and the whole place was decked
out in balloons and crepe paper streamers. On each side of the dorm like
building I was surprised to see basketball goals-that's right, in the church. I
was pleasantly surprised as the graduation was a really nice affair with a
reception after. I had expected a couple of folks to get diplomas in a basic
ceremony, but it was a small but traditional graduation ceremony.
A side note to the church is that there are a couple of young folks in town
who go around with ties on and name badges declaring them "elder" so and so.
(The ties are a bit conspicuous as no one in Kotz wears a tie and they are not
common in Anchorage either. In fact we were watching the news the other day and
an interview was in progress with the Mayor of Anchorage who was decked out in a
black turtleneck, sport coat, and I swear, blue jeans with fashionably torn
knees.) It is a site to see them cruising the roads on 4 wheelers.
Alright, this is already to long with a lot of fill, let me shut up. It's 10am Saturday morning and Patty is snoring in the bed next to me. The rain has stopped and the sun is shining outside (and has been since around 4am), the temp is around 40 degrees and it looks like a good day to play. Guess I am gonna have to shut off the snoring machine next to me and together go out and face the wilds. Build a driftwood fire on the beach and roast hot dogs and smores, bird watch, toss out a blanket on a secluded spot and read while soaking up the sun, or maybe just ride. It's tough trying to survive in the bush.
Carlo
PS I just know most of you are going to take one look at 40 degrees and figure we are nuts. The temp will rise with the day and probably will get into the 50's. Combine that with the dry climate, the sun, no wind, the sights, and a recent history of enduring below zero temps and that is like a 70 degree day in New Orleans.
Take care all
For problems or questions regarding this web contact
carlo@samsicles.net
Last updated:
08/29/05