MARLA:  And then how did you get involved with the -- with the health -- with helping people and helping to take care of people?
 
BOB:  I -- early in those days, there was a guy named Dr. Irving from the university who's coming around and working with Simon, some -- I don't know what they were working on but it might be collecting some birds, wildlife or some kind.
 
MARLA:  And is that Simon -- what's Simon's last name?
 
BOB:  Dr. Irving.

MARLA:  No, Simon's last name.

BOB:  Paneak.
 
MARLA:  Okay.

BOB:  Then I -- then in those years there was some health people, Barbara, she used to come around, too, and works on the wildlife or something.  And then from there, I got involved with -- in 1953, in New Umbra (ph), I believe.  There were some kind of flu there.
 
The village had a -- I started trying to help people get well or didn't have no kind of medicine.  Irving -- Dr. Irving got some penicillin, I guess he carried around a kind of penicillin used to be powdered, one you have to mix with water. 

And then I started following him around.  Well, he asked me to follow him around, so I started going with -- we start going to the house to house, tent to tent or something there.
 
I learned a little bit about giving shots when they leave, they leave some a little bit of penicillin with somebody else, I was not in the -- not, but I learned how to mix.  It was needle with numbers on it.  We have to boil them in those days to, you know, to clean them up.  And I learned a little bit about that.
 
And my mother died in 1953 from that flu, so I -- from there, I know a little bit about training in Fairbanks.  When I was in Fairbanks, you know, when I work, you have to train first-aid kit or something, a little bit about that.  But that -- not the human body, I mean, to care -- take care of a wound or something, that's about it. 

And from there, I -- I tried to take care of some people that needs to -- needed help.  Then somebody was -- I guess Barbara left some kind of medicine, penicillin, only -- and Dr. Irving. 

And somebody was a health aide.  Like, you know, to take care of people, give them shot or not much.  But it was really help.  We needed a -- needed a shot or something.  I don't know.  They don't have a stethoscope or nothing.