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Nolita Madros, |
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| MARLA: So you guys just moved into this clinic about a month ago. Can you talk about that? NOLITA: It was a chore. MARLA: Where were you in the meantime? NOLITA: We stayed over on the -- on the north side of the village in one of the housing units. And we -- we turned that into a temporary clinic. MARLA: Okay. NOLITA: For about a year. 11 months. They were supposed to be done and completed in six months, but no project is ever completed on time, so. MARLA: So what were they doing to this clinic? NOLITA: We kept the shell of the building and they took out -- they removed all the asbestos in the building and remodeled. MARLA: Okay. And it took 11 months? NOLITA: Yeah. MARLA: And where -- and so the clinic moved to a house? NOLITA: Yeah. MARLA: Was it your house? NOLITA: No. At first it wasn't, it was an open house, but through the course of the year, they negotiated with the TMHA and was able to secure that that would be my home, my rental, once we got out of there. MARLA: What's TMHA? NOLITA: The housing authority. MARLA: Okay. NOLITA: I don't know how to say the Eskimo name. MARLA: Okay. So -- so you ended up living in the clinic or the clinic was living in your home? NOLITA: Yeah. I was there -- I stayed there probably since January and hoping they'd move out. MARLA: So that meant that everybody would come to report for work at your house? NOLITA: Yeah. MARLA: And -- and patients would -- you saw patients there, as well? NOLITA: Uh-hum. The medical records room, which was one bedroom; the emergency room, which was the larger of the bedrooms; and then the other room was just a lab/exam room. So it's a three-bedroom house. MARLA: Okay. NOLITA: And the front was just the front office. MARLA: And then what about all, like I look around here and there's all -- you know, there's the exam table or exam bed and all -- all the equipment, did you have that in your house, as well? NOLITA: Yeah. We didn't have any -- any furniture at all. MARLA: Wow. NOLITA: We had one exam table, the ER gurney, and all the stuff in the emergency room now was in the -- in the bigger of the bedrooms, the emergency room. And we have two exams, and we just took all the stuff from one exam, all the rest went in storage. MARLA: And so you're really close right now to the airport. What was it like when you were over there to get people to the airport? How did you do that? NOLITA: Well, for an emergency situation -- MARLA: Yeah. NOLITA: -- they went on the ambulance. We have an ambulance service here. So. MARLA: Oh, that's great. Can you talk a little bit about the ambulance service? That's pretty unusual, isn't it? NOLITA: Yeah, it is. It is. But all the North Slope Borough villages have the ambulance, fire department and ambulance service. MARLA: And so they are all trained EMT's, as well? NOLITA: Yeah. MARLA: Oh, great. NOLITA: They get regular training through the fire department in Barrow. MARLA: Okay. And are they mostly local people? NOLITA: Yes. MARLA: Oh, that's great. So -- NOLITA: I don't know too much about the fire department, but I really and truly appreciate all the guys on the fire crew because they make my job easier. MARLA: Because why? NOLITA: When I work other places in Alaska, I usually have to go get the patient. When I work here in Anaktuvuk, they bring the emergencies to me. MARLA: Wow, that's great. NOLITA: And that makes a world of difference. MARLA: How -- what does it mean to go get the patient? NOLITA: I've had to do that before. Well, you have to go, like home visits, and like if it was an emergency situation, you'd have to gather volunteers to bring your patient from the house to the clinic. And most places when -- early on you had to find your own vehicle or hope someone loaned you a vehicle to bring the patient and stuff like that. MARLA: And so when it's getting volunteers, is that just sort of carry people back on a gurney or -- NOLITA: Oh, yeah. MARLA: Wow. NOLITA: Lifting. MARLA: Wow. That's pretty heavy work. NOLITA: I know. But even -- all the volunteers, I appreciate them all. MARLA: Yeah. NOLITA: Anyway, it makes my job easier. | |
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Last updated 11-4-06
Last updated 11-4-06