KAREN: So, when you started as the health aide was there a clinic in Hoonah?

TRUDY: No, I used my home. I had a room at my home for a clinic.

KAREN: Wow. You had space in your home for that?

TRUDY: I had a bedroom open for it. My kids slept upstairs. We had an extra bedroom downstairs. So, I made that a home.

But my kids were all taught to help, in every way they could when somebody got hurt. So they were there. My daughter Marilyn knows more about it than I do. What I did and what I didn't do.

KAREN: Yeah, when I talked to her on the phone the other day she said she used to go on calls with you?

TRUDY: Uh-huh (affirmative). My oldest boy used to and she used to.

KAREN: So, when you saw patients in your house did you have a clinic schedule that said between such and such -- or how people could come see --

TRUDY: No, we had no schedule. There is no way you could have a schedule with a lot of people. Just open certain time of day and if someone gets hurt you just ignore them, walk around. No, that wasn't the case. Just go when you get called. Never stop to think: “Well, I'm off today, I don't need to go,” that wasn't the case. We had to go at all times. We had to be prepared 24 hours a day. And it did run into 24 hours a day some time.

KAREN: Yeah.

TRUDY: There were times that it did.

KAREN: Like what?

TRUDY: Like if you have a badly hurt person that you have to keep overnight and get him on the plane in first daylight. And that's a long time 'til morning - from midnight till morning - 'cause I had one. But luckily my son came along, my oldest son.

He said: “I'll stay with the patient for the rest of the night. I'll call you before the plane comes in.” So that's what happened. The day was not getting daylight 'til like about 8 - 8:30. So he called me at 8 and I went down, checked the person, and by that time the plane was coming and we put him on the plane. But it's a lot.

The health aides themselves are just always thinking about that. All the health aides they have, I know what they went through, how they went through this. Because it was just a thankless job, day and night, no matter where you were, no matter what time it was.

It was pretty hard. Well, I never knew 'cause I never worked before. I worked in a cannery and that was it. Never any place outside of a cannery.