Stories in this Regional News Roundup are excerpted from weekly newspapers from around the region. This is part two, with part one having appeared in Saturday’s Tribune.
COTTONWOOD — One person lay bleeding out in the snow, another lay unconscious across the hood and front window of a pickup, and all the while an animated intoxicated driver has no concept of the severity of the moment he’s had a part in.
In the midst of this, more than two dozen medical students are left to sort out the crisis to evaluate patients, provide immediate care and arrange for transport.
This scenario — a snowmobile versus a snowplow with four patients — is staged, with faked injuries and persons acting out both trauma and drama to give students a taste of the complexity they will be dealing with in real world medical care.
“How did that feel? Throw out some words,” asked Dr. Andrew Schweitzer, to which some of the 25 medical students replied with, “disorganized,” “chaos” and “stressful.”
“That’s actually very common,” Schweitzer said. “That’s why we have created these kinds of scenarios, because the more you do it the more comfortable you are and have the ability to step in to take charge — or help to not take charge and make things more crazy — and to stay calm and get things done in a way that’s safe and expeditious.”
Last Friday and Saturday, Feb. 24-25, medical students from the University of Idaho came to Cottonwood to learn about care, specifically pertaining to rural communities and remote areas through WWAMI. Run through the University of Washington School of Medicine and encompassing a five-state region (Washington, Wyoming, Alaska, Montana and Idaho), its goal is to train students from these areas to become doctors in these states, most of which are fairly underserved, according to Schweitzer.
“Wyoming, Idaho and Alaska are particularly underserved as far as medical care,” he said. “For example, of the three, Idaho is traditionally ranked 49 of 50 for access to primary care doctors. Idaho particularly is exceptionally underserved.”
Schweitzer, a physician at St. Mary’s Health in Cottonwood, coordinates this annual program that he started in 2011 as a first-year medical student with the help of SMH administration and staff. Following a gap of a few years, the course resumed in 2018 with SMH support, as well as that of Cottonwood Butte Ski Area and the community, he said. Instructors come from SMH as well as their sister facility, Clearwater Valley Health in Orofino.
Schweitzer started the program to give students a perspective on the unique aspects of health care in rural areas.
“There are not many physicians per square mile, so you have to provide a broad spectrum of care for patients, for example, living in Idaho County and Idaho in general,” he said, adding, “I wanted to bring further awareness for medical students as far as what all is involved in being a family doctor in a rural town in Idaho.”
— By David Rouzi, Editor, Idaho County Free Press (Grangeville), Wednesday
Whitman county veterans services paused
COLFAX — The Whitman County Commissioners announced Feb. 21, that operations of the Whitman County’s Veterans Service Office have been paused.
Requests for Veterans Relief Fund assistance can be submitted to local American Legion Posts, but services requiring a certified Veterans Service Officer are currently unavailable.
Commissioner Art Swannack met with the Veterans Advisory Board on Feb. 24 to discuss refilling the position.
“I notified them that we were releasing our current Veterans Officer, and we all agreed we want to refill the position,” Swannack said, adding that they discussed the timeline for filling the position.
Swannack explained the Veterans Service officer is a one person office for Veterans Service. The Officer is credentialed to help veterans get medical claims, VA benefits, and help with other claims relevant to their discharge.
Swannack added that he had a good conversation with the Spokane Veterans office on Tuesday about its willingness to help veterans in Whitman County.
“There were several claims that were in progress that I was able to transfer to Spokane,” Swannack said, adding that the Spokane office is going to work with Walla Walla who is also willing to help until the county is able to get an officer trained and certified.
— By Teresa Simpson, Whitman County Gazette (Colfax), Thursday
