Hannah Anderson, Transcript Section 9

Community Health Aide Program Project Jukebox

Hannah Anderson,
Transcript Section 9

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HANNAH: I just reached over like that.

MARLA: And was Naomi an alternate with you for most of the time that you're a health aide or --

HANNAH: Yeah.

MARLA: -- was there a long time when you didn't have anybody?

HANNAH: There were a lot of times when you didn't have anyone, you know, you were by yourself pretty much.

MARLA: Right.

HANNAH: I got called out mostly because she was an alternate and I was the first to call. If they can't get me, then they get her.

MARLA: Right.

HANNAH: And so I was always pretty much available so I got called out, you know. I got called out one night when it was 60 -- well, I'm not sure it was 60 below, but it was cold, and it was that time of the year when it gets really, really cold. And I had to walk from -- from here to the house, which is way over there. A quarter of a mile.

MARLA: Oy.

HANNAH: At three o'clock in the morning. It was dark and cold. And I felt like I was somewhere, not on earth. You feel that way. All alone, quite dark.

MARLA: And cold.

HANNAH: And cold. Wrapped up, walking to this person.

MARLA: And not knowing what to expect?

HANNAH: Not knowing what to expect. Yeah.

MARLA: What --

HANNAH: And that was an emergency. Evidently, he had a -- I don't know what he did, but he bit his tongue and punctured a hole and it couldn't stop bleeding. And this was a patient that was, you know, had -- was on Coumadin, which is blood thinner, and had heart problems. He had a lot of problems. And he should not be bleeding like that.

And so he -- I guess he did it in his sleep. When he woke up, he was all -- you know, bled. And so he -- I got over there, checked him out, went over to the clinic, called the doctor.

MARLA: In Fairbanks?

HANNAH: Yeah. It was Dr. James was on call. And I gave him the condition, what was going on with the patient. And he said, you can't pressure a tongue.

MARLA: Yeah.

HANNAH: That's one -- one of those things that you don't put pressure on. It won't stop bleeding from pressure. And so he advised me to -- of course, he's going to be medevaced that day. You know.

MARLA: Right.

HANNAH: That's going to be. And he said monitor how much blood. Do gauze in the mouth.

MARLA: And see how fast.

HANNAH: And see how fast that get absorbed by blood. And I -- I did that. And a lot of gauze in there, you know, and check it so often. And if -- if he's losing a lot of blood, then I would have to start an IV.

MARLA: Right.

HANNAH: And -- and morning came.

MARLA: So you stayed with him all night?

HANNAH: And I stayed -- stayed there. And it was okay. It just, you know, it kind of slowed down. And he was able to take care of it with the gauze and not losing too much blood and not swallowing it.

And that patient was medevaced into town. But I was just saying how health aides get called out to different -- you know, don't know.

MARLA: Yeah. In the middle of the night.

HANNAH: Middle of the night or any -- you know, any time.

MARLA: Yeah.

HANNAH: And you do it.

MARLA: Yeah.

HANNAH: You get up and you go.