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Gloria Park, |
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| DR. PARK: So this particular manual was developed in 1944 for the teachers to use. And -- and they also, this area anyway, was Bethel. And kept a few supplies in the big villages for the teachers to use. KAREN: It's a Medical Manual For Teachers prepared by Fred -- DR. PARK: Fred Langsam. KAREN: Langsam. DR. PARK: L-A-N-G-S-A-M. KAREN: Government physician, Bethel, Alaska, August 1944. Yeah. I was wondering if the teachers received any medical training because they were relied upon. DR. PARK: Yeah. Most -- most of them, you know, just whatever they had learned offhand. And this, as far as I know, was the first -- well, I take that back. I think there were previous, but very informal-type guides sometimes left in the village. This is the first one that looked formal at all. And you can notice how -- how old it looks. KAREN: Very yellow. And typed. DR. PARK: So -- and then we were speaking a little while ago about the first one that we worked on. This was 1964, trying to pull together some of the -- the training that was needed in the villages. And also have something more up to date to use by -- by this time the volunteer health aides, instead of relying on the teachers. And most of the teachers were very happy to get out of the medical care of the village. And this is one of the -- one that I was mentioning to you. This is what two or three of us, it was supposed to be a committee assignment, and it ended up being about two of us. And we just called it the training program, medical aide. In fact, the term was used, medical aide. KAREN: Alaska Medical Aide Training Program. DR. PARK: Yeah. KAREN: Compendium. DR. PARK: We decided to have a different wording for it. KAREN: Submitted by the Community Health Aide Committee, January 1964. DR. PARK: Yeah. As far as I know, that's the first, actually -- at least in the Anchorage area. But it was aimed more at people that were going to develop then local health aide manuals. KAREN: Okay. So this tells -- let's see. DR. PARK: And then in about 10 years, we went from this one, I don't know, 25 pages, to the ninth -- to this one that I -- that I could dig out the other day when you called. Are you familiar with this one? KAREN: You mentioned it and I -- I tried to find it in our library, and I -- I asked about getting a copy, if they could find it in one of the other libraries or something. So I haven't actually gotten it yet, but Guidelines For Primary Health Care in Rural Alaska, 1976. Is this the Rob Bridges one? DR. PARK: I don't know. KAREN: Oh, no, Joseph Whitaker. DR. PARK: Yeah. He was a pharmacist that spearheaded that program, or was spearheading it. KAREN: That's pretty thick. That's about 2 inches thick. DR. PARK: This does give you quite a bit on who was working in which areas and like Walt Johnson as clinical director. I could loan you this for a while, if you'd like. KAREN: Sure. Here now, I was just saying, there's a new training manual. DR. PARK: Uh-hum (affirmative). KAREN: It's four volumes. DR. PARK: I wouldn't be surprised. This was the first time that -- that a program really got formalized. And other than -- and prior to this, each -- each service unit might have their own little booklets that weren't any bigger than this one. KAREN: That first, that '64 one. DR. PARK: And a loose-leaf notebook that had maybe 25, 30 pages in it. KAREN: So this -- this big yellow one, this Guidelines For Primary Health Care, how was that meant to be utilized? Was it -- DR. PARK: By the -- by the health aides. KAREN: So it was supposed to be in the clinic to help their -- DR. PARK: So there was a formalized health aide training by then. Actually, it was a training manual. And -- KAREN: Okay. So when they came to Anchorage for training, this was, like, their textbook? DR. PARK: Yeah. KAREN: Okay. MR. PARK: And let's see, who else. Do any of these names look familiar to you, as far as -- KAREN: The Airlie Bruce, Walter Johnson, Janet Morton, John Rich, Loretta Throop. Lillian Walker, Community Health Aide, Holy Cross, I interviewed her yesterday. DR. PARK: Is that right. KAREN: And Genevieve Westwick -- no. Lillian and Walter are the only familiar names. DR. PARK: And then -- KAREN: These are the acknowledgements of the people that worked on the manual. DR. PARK: People that worked on the manual itself. KAREN: Uh-hum. Those are the names. DR. PARK: Let's see. I haven't tried to remember what -- some of them are specialists. A lot of them are general. Tom Bender still work at the Native Hospital? KAREN: I have no idea. DR. PARK: Anyway, there might be others that -- Howard Bonar was one in charge of the -- keeping the radios working. KAREN: Oh? DR. PARK: And that was in the days where you had to say "over and out" and all, you know, and take your turns. You couldn't interrupt anybody. KAREN: Right. DR. PARK: You just took the message, talked back when it was your turn. KAREN: So did he go out to the villages and maintain the radios out there? DR. PARK: He did a little, but he was primarily in Anchorage keeping the main radios up. And I don't know how many radios we -- we had two or three in the hospital. And... KAREN: That's funny. I never thought about radio maintenance in the villages and who would have kept those going. DR. PARK: Yeah. And he did travel. I've forgotten what -- what all his job was. Yeah. He would all -- he would -- he does this volunteer work with the local senior center, if it's somebody you'd want to try to talk to sometime. | |
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Last updated 11-4-06
Last updated 11-4-06