June 5

            In the Cherokee area there is a huge issue in regards to access to healthcare. There is a local hospital called Swain county and it offers very few services. They do not treat any emergent trauma or severe injuries. This affects patient wellbeing because if someone gets seriously hurt and shows up to Swain county for treatment they will be transported to Harrison hospital. This takes a lot of time and resources and potentially allows the patient to decompensate more. If the injury is severe enough the patient will then get transported from Harrison to Mission. All these transportations add a lot of time onto a patient’s care and could lead to bad outcomes versus just getting treated at one hospital. Today we also learned that Mission Hospital is the only hospital in the area with a Cath lab. Mission is over an hour away from Cherokee so if you are having a cardiac problem and need to go to the lab but five people are in front of you- that causes a serious delay in care and the patient’s wellbeing is at risk.

            My biggest take away from today’s Wilderness First Aid course was the importance of teamwork and communication. During each scenario communication was a huge factor in treating the injured person. Communication could be to the patient, to the 911 dispatcher or to other team members on what needs done. This course will help me take care of patients back home because it re enforced my need to always communicate thoroughly and explain exactly what I need. It also gave me different ideas on how to treat injuries or illness without the use of modern medicine. The idea of rubbing honey on someone’s gums when a diabetic is unconscious and hypoglycemic is such a simple idea yet I had never thought of it. It is always taught to give 15 carbs or start giving D5 IV. I enjoyed this course because it gave me new ideas and made me think of creative solutions (such as using sticks to stabilize a person's broken leg).