BEVERLY:  And then somewhere between -- after that time, between '76 and '80, they put in a satellite phone.  And it was still located in the old school where the ham radio was.  And it was a phone that we would have medical traffic.  Allakaket, Anaktuvuk, and 17 other villages would have medical traffic at one o'clock every day. 

The doctor in Tanana would call in.  And at that time, we had Dr. James, William James.  He's been a fixture in the Interior care for many, many years.  I think over 30 some years.  And he was there.  And -- and there was, you know, Dr. Elterman came on later.  And then there was Dr. Brown, Dr. George Brown. 

And it just kind of, you know, every two years, but those two, Dr. -- Dr. James and Dr. Elterman were the mainstay.  They've just kind of been with the Interior Region for a long time.  And they were always very helpful, you know, on the other end. 

We would get our supplies from Tanana, monthly supplies.  Nothing really fancy, but just real basic dressings and just supplies that we need, mainly dressings for wound care or Kerlix wraps or -- and tongue blades, you know, things that we need for providing basic emergency care. 

And I think initially, in my first training, it was four weeks in Anchorage.  My Session 1 was four weeks in Anchorage at the Alaska area CHAP program.  And at that time, Rob Burgess was one of the doctors there, and Dr. Whitaker. 

I think Dr. Whitaker was the one that made the first Community Health Aide manual.  It was kind of a pastel yellow and government issue.  The binding was poor.  It broke often so I'd have to tape them all up, you know.  And there was, you know -- but that's what we had to work with, you know. 

And I had Session 2 after I did 200 field hours, 200 hours of field work, and then I went to Session 2. 

After that I went to another 200 hours, but each time I would find ways of trying to have a -- a mode of communication and I always try to find a place where it won't freeze up.  And many times, you know, everything in the school, in the old state school, it would freeze up. 

KAREN:  Oh. 

BEVERLY:  So any time there was a freeze-up, some of the medications would be, you know, frozen.  And that was the real hard part is -- so I wrote a letter to our North Slope Borough mayor, Eben Hopson, and told him that we really need a clinic in Anaktuvuk because we're just kind of -- you know, space or lease of space was not available. 

So many times I just saw patients in my 12-by-16 cabin, you know.  It was my multipurpose place.  And real humble beginnings, but it was all we had to work with then, you know. 

And often I would see my patients at my home and -- or I would go to their home, carrying my black bag, and my note paper and just do the best evaluation I can do and history, and then I would call the doctors. 

It depends, you know, sometimes it can wait for regular medical traffic or if the -- the Community Health Aide manual says to do it, I mean, many times I'd just look and see and, you know, it was always very informative and really easy to follow.  So many times I just followed that type of care. 

And then if there's urgent or emergency, I often would try to call on the ham radio or -- and then I think it was in '78 we finally got one phone that was in the store.  Nunamiut store.  Satellite phone.  It had a lot of -- you know, a lot of, what do you call it, excess sounds. 

KAREN:  Static? 

BEVERLY:  Static and -- but, you know, that is all we had then.  So I had the key to the store, you know.  If there was some urgent care business, you know, if there was an emergency. 

And I recall October 21, I was called in really late, and there was a young lady that was in labor and I was -- you know, I evaluated her.  Still no electricity there.  We'd have a Coleman lantern, somebody's holding a Coleman lantern and I'm trying to evaluate the status of this very pregnant young lady, very young. 

And -- and after I took all her vital signs and took her history, she's like about maybe four weeks early, according to the records, you know, and after that, I went to go call on our one phone, and here I'm talking to Dr. James, I believe, in Tanana, and -- and then the mother comes into the store and says the baby's coming. 

KAREN:  Uh-oh. 

BEVERLY:  So I had to hang up.  But, you know, prior to that, I had already set up for as -- as much of a sterile technique.  I had already sterilized all the -- the scissors, the tools that I'll be using, the nose -- the thing, the little -- the bulb you use to clean the nose and the mouth, I had already sterilized them.  And I had clean towels and, you know, everything was just ready in case I had to, you know. 

Anyway, the baby did come and it came right quick, and you know, we were really fortunate that everything went well. 

And now she's a beautiful young lady.  And -- and at that time, there was no electricity, so Dr. James was sending a plane, a small plane to pick up the lady because, you know, we didn't have a scale to measure the baby. 

It was awfully small.  I thought it was like maybe -- you know, it was born a little bit early.  And so we had hot water bottles around the baby and trying to keep it warm. 

And -- and it was really cold that day.  Cold and dark, and so I had to -- my husband Patrick got a couple of guys turn on kerosene lanterns and along the runway, and a couple of snow machines with lights, headlights, facing towards the south for the plane to land. 

And that time, the plane did land and take the mother and the baby to Tanana.  And they were apparently fine.  I think she was, like, almost six pounds, and it was -- it turned out good, you know.  That's one --

KAREN:  Was that the first baby you delivered? 

BEVERLY:  Yes.  That's the first baby I delivered, October 21, 1978.  Yeah.  She was just a beautiful young lady.  She is now, you know. 

KAREN:  Yeah.