Nolita Madros, Transcript Section 12

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Nolita Madros,
Transcript Section 12

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MARLA: Well, and then, another question I had for you was what -- who are some of your mentors in the health aide -- or being a health aide, in general?

NOLITA: My mom was.

MARLA: Yeah.

NOLITA: She was a good health aide.

But then there's a couple other ladies, I don't even know their names, there's a couple other nurses when I was growing up that helped, you know.

And like I had to go to the hospital one time, and I went by myself because decades ago you didn't -- if there was space available on a plane to go to the hospital, you pretty much went by yourself if you were a kid, unless you were a baby, then mom or dad brought you.

And they had all the old radio traffic thing with Tanana. And I ended up going to the hospital by myself one time.

And there was a nurse there, I don't even remember her name, she said, when you grow up, you can be a health care provider. I said, okay, yeah, right. I was like 8 or 9, I had to sleep in a crib, that just kind of blew my image.

But my mom, she has been a steady example in being a health aide.

MARLA: Yeah.

NOLITA: It was kind of boring when I was younger, but now that I look back at my career and look at the hardships they had when they first were health aides, you know, they -- they went through a lot, those older health aides, that I don't know if I could have done it like they did.

MARLA: What do you mean? What sort of things do you remember seeing?

NOLITA: Well -- well, like, you know, if I had to get a patient out right now, my patient would be out on a medevac within a couple hours. Sometimes their patients had to stay in the village two, three days before they got to the hospital.

So -- and even, you know, depending on what's going on, that could be stressful. So they had to do a lot more stressful stuff.

A lot of them had to do the honey bucket thing whereas I got a flush toilet.

MARLA: Right.

NOLITA: That's a big one. And even with simple things like hand washing, they all had to use a basin and haul the water. Some people had to haul their own water. Whereas I had the modern facility, I just turn the faucet, you know, and hope it works.

Some villages didn't have electricity for a lot of years so they have to do their own, what do you call those, Coleman.

MARLA: Propane -- propane or --

NOLITA: It wasn't even propane, it was kerosene or something. So see, and I just flick the light and the light comes on, hopefully.

So they had a more grass roots, down to earth kind of experience whereas my facility is a lot more modern.

MARLA: Yeah. And then do you remember your mother doing radio traffic?

NOLITA: I know they all had medical traffic after lunch, but --

MARLA: Was there a radio in your home?

NOLITA: You know what, I don't remember a radio being in my house. I know at the store they had a ham radio.

MARLA: Yeah.

NOLITA: So.

MARLA: I wonder where she went to do her -- her radio medical traffic.

NOLITA: I really don't know.

MARLA: And she was contacting Tanana?

NOLITA: Yeah. Tanana for a long time.

MARLA: Okay.

NOLITA: Tanana for a long time. Yeah.

MARLA: And then she was suggesting to -- by someone else that we interview to be someone we talk to about early health aide and her experiences.

NOLITA: Yeah.

MARLA: But I think it's really interesting that, you know, you grew up around the whole Health Aide Program and watching your mother and, you know, being in the house when -- when patients came.

NOLITA: Yeah.

MARLA: Kind of prepares you for what you're doing now.

NOLITA: Yeah. Back then when I watched them suture and stuff, it was like teenager, you just don't want to see that kind of thing going on. It's gross. But you know, you get used to it.

MARLA: Yeah.

NOLITA: Yeah. So. The thing with a bad cut is once you stop the bleeding, all you have to do is suture and clean up the mess. And it's the mess that makes you look bad, like one drop of blood in the toilet bowl can make you look like you're really bleeding because it's water and stuff.

MARLA: Yeah. And head injuries, too.

NOLITA: Oh, yeah. Head injuries are big bleeders. They are big gushers.