Martina Lauterbach, Transcript Section 7

Community Health Aide Program Project Jukebox

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KAREN: So when the doctors came, did you -- did they -- were they specialty doctors or were they regular doctors?

MARTINA: They were just regular doctors. They didn't have -- you know, the time I was a health aide, they didn't have pediatricians or anything like that, it was just general, or what they call general medical, family medicine doctors, I'm sure.

KAREN: Uh-hum.

MARTINA: And that came out to the hospitals like Bethel, Dillingham.

KAREN: And then what did the Public Health nurses do?

MARTINA: They did immunizations, and if there was, you know, some chronic things that they had to follow up on, like TB, if there was -- you know, if there was TB, you know, making sure that these were taken care of. And some women's health, stuff like pap smears and that.

KAREN: So the health aides, you weren't able to do immunizations and those other kinds of tests?

MARTINA: No. I was -- I don't know if I should say -- I was taught by a Public Health nurse on giving immunizations, which was good. You know. I helped her, you know, do immunizations. And we were scheduling well baby appointments also at the time, you know, when the Public Health nurse came. So she would do physicals and give immunizations.

KAREN: Yeah.

MARTINA: You know, pediatric patients.

KAREN: It doesn't seem like immunization's too complicated. It's interesting why the health aides weren't trained to do that.

MARTINA: Well, you know, the -- I think the -- we were taught, you know, how to give immunizations or, you know, give IM, you know, shots and stuff like that, but the vaccines are pretty -- some of them are kind of -- you have to have certain temperatures --

KAREN: Oh, okay.

MARTINA: -- for them in the refrigerator. And there was no way of controlling, you know, the refrigerator temperatures or some -- even some of the villages didn't know how -- probably didn't have refrigerators.

KAREN: Right. So you couldn't store it, you'd have to be --

MARTINA: You'd have to --

KAREN: Nurse comes in and gives it.

MARTINA: Right.

KAREN: Okay.

MARTINA: And, you know, you could keep your -- and you know, they do expire, the vaccines and stuff, and if they sent them out to the villages, they could freeze, you know, like sometimes the airplane or, you know, when the planes came into the village, you know, there would be boxes left and it could --

KAREN: Right.

MARTINA: -- you know, not come to the clinic right away.

KAREN: Right.

MARTINA: Like, you know, it's supposed to. So -- and the Public Health nurses had them, you know, controlled, you know, when they came out to the villages.

KAREN: Yeah. Okay.

MARTINA: Yeah.

KAREN: We had talked before about a couple of those emergencies where those patients didn't make it.

MARTINA: Uh-hum (affirmative).

KAREN: Can you think of some examples where because of what you did, you saved somebody?

MARTINA: I'm trying to think. I'm sure. I mean, there's a lot of --

KAREN: You have a memory of a particularly successful case that ever made you feel good about being a health aide?

MARTINA: Oh, gosh. I mean --

KAREN: I don't want to focus just on the bad ones, that's what I mean.

MARTINA: Right. Yeah. I'm trying to think of. I'm sure there were several, but I can't, you know, right now even think of, you know. I mean, I had a lot of success, I think, you know, just...

KAREN: Any times that you surprised yourself at what you were able to do?

MARTINA: Many times, but you know, just things that had to be done. You know, if we had to -- maybe cuts or -- well, hepatitis, I guess, is one that I can think of that I took care of pretty well. It was Hepatitis A. And you know, the person was taken care of.

I know how to, you know, deal with what I needed to do because I learned, you know, from one of my trainings, you know, on Hepatitis A. Because it was, you know, Hepatitis A, you know, you'd see several times. And I guess, you know, I kind of knew how to take care of that.

So that was one of the things that I guess I'm proud of, you know, having known, you know, what to do. And you know, not getting it spread, you know, when a person had the Hepatitis A in the family. So I guess that would be one of the good things.

KAREN: That's good. That's good. Yeah. No, you learned to recognize something very contagious and keep it from getting worse in the village.

MARTINA: Yeah. And then typhoid, too, I had one typhoid.

KAREN: Oh.

MARTINA: In a pediatric patient that, you know, I did -- took care of correctly also. I mean, you know, the pediatric patient did come into Anchorage for that, too, and it was contained.

KAREN: Good.

MARTINA: Pretty well. Yeah.

KAREN: Typhoid doesn't seem like something particularly common in Alaska.

MARTINA: No. And I can't remember how this -- I think there was one person that was a carrier, if I can remember.

KAREN: And how you managed to recognize it.

MARTINA: It was, you know, high temperatures and couldn't get it, you know, taken care of, even with -- I can't honestly remember. But it was -- you know, the baby couldn't -- you know, wasn't getting well.

KAREN: Uh-hum.

MARTINA: After several days of antibiotics, I think. And we thought maybe it was an infection, you know, at the time. And when we sent her into Bethel, you know, they did the blood work and stuff and found out that she had typhoid.

KAREN: Oh. And she survived?

MARTINA: She survived. And she now lives in Anchorage. And I can't -- I think she's married. So. Yeah.