Barbara Johnson, Part 1, Transcript Section 12

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Barbara Johnson, Part 1
Transcript Section 12

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KAREN: -- in need of care --

BARBARA: They would --

KAREN: -- do they get medevaced?

BARBARA: Yeah, they would get medevaced.

And it all depends, like sometimes if it's a heart condition where Anchorage is more better, you know, to handle that, the doctor would determine that and then they'd go from here to Anchorage.

KAREN: So is there an airplane stationed here for medevacs? Or where does it come from?

BARBARA: No. There's one from Sitka. They have a -- SEARHC has one, you know, that comes here, and I know the crew pretty well. You know. They are some of our instructors for our EMT. So yeah. They -- they come here.

And sometimes -- I think we very seldom get the Coast Guard because we always manage to have the plane from Sitka come here. And other times if it's Caucasians, you know, they could -- they could hire a private plane here.

KAREN: So they are not -- the non-beneficiaries, the Caucasians, are they covered by the SEARHC?

BARBARA: They are not covered but they can see, you know, they can see -- they can go to Mount Edgecumbe because they do take them there, too. But other than we have our -- our health program is all taken care of by Indian Health Service.

KAREN: Right.

BARBARA: Whereas theirs isn't. They have to depend on their health insurance or, you know --

KAREN: I didn't know if they're --

BARBARA: -- Medicaid helps a lot.

KAREN: -- you know, if they need to be medevaced --

BARBARA: Yeah.

KAREN: -- what --

BARBARA: We get ahold of our doctor and let him know what the situation is, and he will make arrangements whether they go to Juneau, Anchorage, or Sitka.

KAREN: Okay.

BARBARA: You know, so he's the one that determines that.

KAREN: Okay.