Grassroots Science

Where is… latest diseased animal

mpb — Tue, 06 May 2008 04:42:05 +0000

from the incomparable
http://www.promedmail.org ProMED-mail is a program of the International Society for Infectious Diseases http://www.isid.org

I have mentioned the Wildlife Disease Center before

The map format will be a great complement to the
global human H5N1 disease map mentioned here
(Where is… Bethel and 2007 bird flu) and to the
MIT HealthMap of the latest alerts on infectious disease around the world

Web tool puts wildlife diseases on the map
Date: Fri 2 May 2008 Source: US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey (USGS) Office of Communication]
http://www.usgs.gov/newsroom/article.asp?ID=1928

- ——————————————
A new on-line map makes it possible, for the 1st time, to track disease outbreaks around the world that threaten the health of wildlife, domestic animals, and people.
…
Updated daily, the map displays pushpins marking stories of wildlife diseases such as West Nile virus, avian influenza, chronic wasting disease, and monkeypox. Users can browse the latest reports of nearly 50 diseases and other health conditions, such as pesticide and lead poisoning, by geographic location. Filters make it easy to focus on different disease types, affected species, countries, and dates.

The map is a product of the Wildlife Disease Information Node (WDIN), a 5-year-old collaboration between UW-Madison and 2 federal agencies, the National Wildlife Health Center and the National Biological Information Infrastructure, that are part of the USGS. WDIN is housed within the university’s Nelson Institute for Environmental Studies and the USGS.
…
“If you click on the name of a particular disease, it takes you to our main website and does a quick search of everything that we have on that topic,” says Cris Marsh, a librarian who oversees the wildlife disease news services for the WDIN. …The WDIN gathers news from more than 20 on-line sources and makes it available in a number of handy formats, from a Wildlife Disease News Digest at to desktop widgets, e-mail, and RSS feeds.

Subscription information for these news delivery services can be found at http://wildlifedisease.nbii.gov/wdindigest.html … “People who collect data about wildlife diseases don’t currently have an established communication network, which is something we’re working to improve,” says Dein. “But just seeing what’s attracting attention in the news gives us a much better picture of what’s out there than we’ve ever had before.”

Concerns about the emergence and spread of diseases that can pass between species have forged new links in recent years between wildlife health, human health, and domestic animal health professionals. “It all ties in together, the ‘One-World, One-Health’ idea,” says Marsh. “The West Nile virus acted as one of the catalysts for that connection. People in different areas in the eastern US began to see isolated incidences of dead and dying crows that seemed abnormally high, but nobody knew other areas were experiencing the same thing.” Because West Nile virus also affects humans and other mammals, it became apparent to scientists that disease outbreaks of this kind need to be addressed as quickly as possible, explains Marsh. Outbreaks of monkeypox and highly pathogenic avian influenza soon afterward underscored the importance of linking information about emerging diseases across all species.
…
Contact information Chris Marsh cmarsh ATusgsDOTgov Joshua Dein fjdein ATusgsDOTgov US Department of the Interior, US Geological Survey Office of Communication
119 National Center Reston, VA 20192 USA

Site Search Tags: HealthMap, MIT, ProMed, USGS, diseases, veterinary, WDIN, zoonoses, NBII.gov, disease+map, epidemiology, emerging+diseases

It’s not just godwits that are antipodean

mpb — Mon, 05 May 2008 04:11:35 +0000

Amazing fish tag journey. Scientists are trying to figure out how an electronic fish tag implanted in a steelhead at a Washington fish hatchery made its way to New Zealand, where in April it was found in the belly of a sooty shearwater chick, according to an Associated Press story. The tag had traveled 7,700 miles. “We know (the tag) went into the ocean, and we know it ended up in New Zealand,” said Dave Marvin, who tracks Columbia River PIT tags for the Pacific States Marine Fisheries Commission in Portland. “But what happened in between is speculation.”

Site Search Tags: New+Zealand, fish, migrations

Godwits, godwits, godwits

mpb — Mon, 05 May 2008 04:04:19 +0000

Track their progress yourself–
2008 Bar-tailed Godwit Updates
and their progress against the sea ice melting Where is… ice pack and the tundra thawing, Where is… breakup freezeup

Scientists track bar-tailed godwits on marathon migration to and from Alaska
By GEORGE BRYSON Anchorage Daily News
Published: March 31st, 2008 12:02 AM
Last Modified: March 31st, 2008
http://www.adn.com/front/story/360937.html

Previously noted–
The godwits are coming
More on the godwits
Our birds Polynesia
YK Bird Study Protocol
Birds sampled 1988-2004

Site Search Tags: godwits, New+Zealand, Polynesia, Australia, ice+pack, migrations, satellite

Electricity disaster declarations in Alaska

mpb — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 05:32:27 +0000

Juneau (our nearest US capitol at 1,000 miles away) recently lost their electrical infrastructure. An avalanche breached the power lines from the hydroelectric generators. As a consequence, electricity must be generated from diesel-fueled generators which are much more expensive. The story reported by APRN.org,
http://aprn.org/2008/04/16/avalanches-drive-up-electricity-costs-in-juneau/ noted that costs per kilowatt hour were expected to go from 11 cents to 40 to 50 cents.

My ears perked at this because in Bethel I “normally” pay 40 cents or so per kwh, with the Power Cost Equalization subsidy that the state legislature (who meets in usually cheap Juneau) sometimes provides. Businesses in Bethel pay quite a bit more.

Some Juneau people have been concerned enough at the sudden increase in electrical rates to request a declaration of emergency.

Mr Nels Anderson, Jr. on the Nushagak (our sister rivershed) has very good ideas to consider in this APRN interview. Dillingham’s rates are only slightly less than Bethel’s.

Phillip Munger at Progressive Alaska reprints Mr Anderson’s letter to Gov. Palin which stresses that the crisis in Alaska power rates is not just in Juneau.

I am hoping that our Rural elected leaders, regional organizations, state-wide organizations will insist that village energy needs be considered along with Juneau. Juneau does have a serious problem but all of our villages do as well.

Read more about Mr Anderson and his letter here http://progressivealaska.blogspot.com/2008/04/

How much do you normally pay for electricity?

Bethel

0.39/kwh plus something called “customer charge” (flat $10.98) plus 6% sales tax

For 390 kwh (about the very least usage possible) costs $172.19 Power cost equalization knocks off $0.2162 or $84.32 for final total of $87.87

Dillingham

31 cents/kwh plus $9 surcharge

Site Search Tags: Dillingham, Nushagak, Bethel, Juneau, electricity, rates, APRN.org, energy, cost+of+living

MayDay for heirlooms, heritage, and museums preparedness

mpb — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 03:12:50 +0000

With spring and break-up just around the corner (please, please, please!) one thing we often forget until too late are family heirlooms, photos, records, manuscripts and so on. Heritage Emergency National Task Force special day is aimed at more formal institutions, but every home or tribal office would benefit from considering emergency preparedness for tangible cultural resources.

If you are in Alaska, contact the state museum in Juneau which has a grant to help local museums with preservation and documentation efforts. Bruce Kato, Chief Curator (bruce DOTkato AT alaska DOTgov),
Telephone: (907) 465-4866, http://www.museums.state.ak.us

April is also Alaska Archaeology Month. This year’s theme is archaeology associated with travel along the National Historic Iditarod Trail.

Archives, libraries, museums, and historic preservation organizations across America are setting aside May 1 to participate in MayDay, a national effort to protect collections from disasters…. Here are some ideas from the Heritage Emergency National Task Force:

* If you have a disaster plan, dust it off and bring it up to date.

* If you don’t have a plan, make a timeline for developing one.

* Get to know your local firefighters and police. Invite them to tour your institution and give pointers on safety and preparedness. A poster outlining tips for working with emergency responders ( www.heritagepreservation.org/catalog/) is available from the Task Force.

* Identify the three biggest risks to your collection or building (such as leaking water pipe, heavy snow, or power failure) and outline steps to mitigate them.

* Conduct a building evacuation drill and evaluate the results.

* Update your staff contact information and create a wallet-size version of your emergency contact roster. See the Pocket Response PlanTM (PRePTM) at www.statearchivists.org/prepare/framework/prep.htm.

* Eliminate hazards such as storage in hallways, blocked fire exits, or improper storage of paints or solvents.

* Provide staff with easily accessible disaster response information, such as www.heritageemergency.org.

* Join forces with nearby institutions and agree to assist each other in case of a disaster.

* Establish a method of identifying objects that are most important to your mission, irreplaceable, or most fragile, making evacuation simpler when disaster hits.

* Register for a free course to learn how your institution fits into existing emergency response protocols. A list is available at www.heritagepreservation.org/lessons/courses.html…

Heritage Preservation is offering its popular Field Guide to Emergency Response and Emergency Response and Salvage Wheel at special MayDay sale prices from April 15 to May 31.

Site Search Tags: deadline, preparedness, museums, heritage, photos, libraries, holiday, Katrina

MRSA blog

mpb — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 18:27:48 +0000

Maryn McKenna who provided valuable references to historical pandemic flu (1918-1919), is currently working on a book about Methicillin-resistant staph infections, MRSA.

More historical resources (Brevig Mission)

She’s using a web log for her research. This allows us to track some of the latest research findings through her, but also allows interaction with readers as she is developing the book.

Superbug http://drugresistantstaph.blogspot.com/

This blog is the virtual whiteboard for my new book, SUPERBUG: The Rise of Drug-Resistant Staph and the Danger of a World Without Antibiotics, coming in 2009 from Free Press. Whether you’re a MRSA researcher or a MRSA victim — or simply a major disease geek — I’m interested in your leads, thoughts, comments and stories. Watch this space for drafts and details as SUPERBUG moves forward.

I’m a freelance writer and author specializing in public health, medicine and health policy. I write features for national magazines and news stories for an infectious-disease website. In addition to this new book about the rise of drug-resistant staph around the world, I’m working on a multi-year research project on emergency room overcrowding and stress. … I’m interested in hearing from researchers, victims and disease geeks; all tips, thoughts, leads and personal stories are welcome. For more about me, check my website in the blogroll, along with other important sites about public health and disease. Let’s get started.

MRSA is now part of our tundra environment, along with various respiratory diseases (RSV, pneumonias) and skin infections (impetigo). This makes us part of the larger world– which we have been, of course, although some readers of the Anchorage Daily News seem blinded to the concept (Respiratory infections in Bush raise alarm : comments). MRSA is an example of evolution, an inadvertent selection by the medical system against the more benign or easier to kill (therefore less dangerous) microbes by killing them off with antibiotics. This allows the resistant microbes to take over. It also allows the resistant microbes to live outside the healthcare system in the community.

See previous posts,

It would be interesting to apply some of the understanding about MRSA to that of the higher rate of infectious diseases related to sanitation in our region. Inadequate clean water supplies are part, but not all, of the problem suggested by the recently published study. The region focussed on in the research is also served by just one health corporation which in the past, at least, has used antibiotics freely.

Increased Health Risk Associated with Lack of In-home Running Water
http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/2008/r080401.htm
CDC STUDY: Villages that have to haul water have higher illness rates 2008
http://www.adn.com/life/health/story/363026.html
Alaska study links bad plumbing, disease. Published: Feb. 28, 2006 http://www.upi.com/NewsTrack/Business/2006/02/27/alaska_study_links_bad_plumbing_disease/7842/

Also,

Staph. aureus and MRSA in Alaska

It’s not just steambaths and high school wrestling mats. As a couple of people have found in Bethel, even bumping a knee can be dangerous.

http://tundramedicinedreams.blogspot.com/2006/11/steambath-boil.html
http://tundramedicinedreams.blogspot.com/2006/09/boils-101-workshop-for-health-aides.html

Medical photos from DermNet of Cellulitis
Furuncles Carbuncles (boils)
Staphylococcal Folliculitis (boils)

Site Search Tags: MRSA, staph, Maryn+McKenna, evolution, antibiotic, resistance, superbug, handwashing, hygiene, hospital, antimicrobial, disinfect, epidemiology, environment, rural+health, Bethel, CDC, lung, ADN.com, steam+bath, Yukon+Kuskokwim, staph, septicemia, blood+poisoning, boils

Tsunami Awareness Week

mpb — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 16:37:33 +0000

We’re fortunate we are behind (north of) the Ring of Fire but that doesn’t leave us impervious. I’m not sure what effect the loss of ice on the Arctic Ocean or on land may do in the future as the Earth’s surface adjusts. But for now, pay attention to the alerts and Be Prepared. When in Anchorage, read the emergency directions in each hotel’s telephone book.

For the alert map for the Pacific, see Where is… Bethel’s Tsunami

Governor Sarah Palin is asking coastal residents in Alaska to make sure they’re prepared for a potential tsunami. She’s declared this week “Tsunami Awareness Week” to mark the anniversary of the largest earthquake ever recorded in North America. The nine point two magnitude earthquake hit on Good Friday, 1964 and was followed by a series of deadly tsunamis.

Lori Townsend, APRN - Anchorage (mp3)

Site Search Tags: tsunami, preparedness, Palin, earthquake

Girl Scouts Women in Science Day 2008

mpb — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 01:41:33 +0000

This is planned for [deadline] April 12, 2008 this year. I’m not sure how long the Girl Scout and Women-in-Science joint annual program has been going. It is certainly an interesting day(s) for the girls and the women involved. We don’t have a local chapter of Women-in-Science so the Bethel version has been Women of Science and local women who are either working in or interested in science are asked to participate.

If you can help, call the Girl Scouts. I may be the only Sigma Xi scientist around, but many women locally practice science– acute observation, comparison, hypothesis testing, gathering facts, critical thinking, etc.– whether choosing berry picking sites, or cooking new recipes, or practicing baby care, or speeding up the cashier lines or stacking a display of round fruit at stores. Of course, our medical practice should be evidence-based, but even herbal medicines require careful preparation.

An example from the first Women of Science, with a downloadable set of materials —

Girl Scout Hovercrafts

Girl Scouts Susitna Council, in partnership with Continuing Education, the University of Alaska Fairbanks Kuskokwim Campus, is hosting a third annual Women of Science Day for Bethel girls.
http://thetundradrums.com/news/show/1731

Organizers seek women who can volunteer their time to plan and lead activity sessions on Saturday afternoon, April 12, at the Kuskokwim Campus.

Sessions in birding, nutrition, dental care, traditional medicine, chemical reactions, weather study, subsistence living, wetland science, winter safety, healthy living, medicinal plants and anthropology … fit well in the 45-minute workshop format.

Adult and teen volunteers are also needed to help guide the groups of girls… For more information, contact Amy von Diest in Anchorage at (800) 478-7448 or by email at avondiest AT gsscak DOT org.

Site Search Tags: Girl+Scouts, women, science, public+involvement, children, KuC, deadline

[N.B. thimk] How effective will Alaska windfall rebates be?

mpb — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:50:38 +0000

[thimk, nota bene: my 2 cent opinion]

Senate Bill 289 would allow middle-income Alaskans to get grants and loans to make their homes more energy efficient. The bill is sponsored by Senator Lyman Hoffman of Bethel.

This will certainly be of help to many homeowners and to landlords such as Sen. Hoffman. I’m not so sure it can be effective in existing rental housing if landlords aren’t interested in upgrading. Bethel has no minimum standards for housing safety, even though it collects taxes on rentals. Thus, even “new” housing -may never become more economic for tenants [moldy or lacks insulation or is packed with electrical heating tape because the rehabbed ASHA (Alaska State Housing Authority) buildings don't have reality-based pipe systems (this is a cold region, folks, without standards for the flush-haul system of water delivery and sewage pick-up)]

True Voices left an interesting comment at an APRN.org story on the Alaska senate bill to give rebates to make middle-income homes “greener”.

I hope that this bill will also help in moving up or move away from the ever eroding river banks… very old wiring, old paper style plywoods, all windows cracked & drafty, etc. And can’t QUALIFY to fix or get a livable dwelling, still trying to be independent.

The comment is a succinct summary of what many face. If communities must be moved, the entire community is best moved together (the Davis Inlet to Natuashish incremental move had problems, especially for the older people, Remaining Innu of Davis Inlet feeling Abandoned). But TrueV points out what many individuals also face– imminent house collapse. The “home equity mortgage” bad loans do not work in many parts of the rural areas (housing may be expensive but it isn’t worth much as collateral). Older people in rural and frontier areas frequently don’t have excess/any retirement income. As in Bethel, there may not be any elder housing for 100s of miles (not even for assisted living or nursing homes). Weatherization and rehab funding often works best for situations outside of rural and remote places, with greater population density and civic resources.

The regulations written for emergency housing and relocation at the federal level (e.g., assistance from USDA Rural Development or Natural Resources Conservation Service) haven’t yet been translated into terms that allow rural areas to receive funding. For example, Homeland Security and Army Corps money might be applied if a highway collapse cuts off a town from its grocery stores. But we haven’t yet pointed out how collapsed stairways or river channel siltation also does the same thing, to the same proportion of people, even though the groceries are hunted. Electrical systems are critical homeland infrastructure– whether on a household or a city basis; the relative impact is the same. The applied funding and expertise isn’t. The long-term costs of not attending to adequate housing are so much more than the short-term expenses.

Thus, house by house a community melts into the river and initiates a constant family by family move into ever more crowded homes, ready themselves to collapse.

It may “take a village” to raise a child– a future citizen to assume statewide, national, and global responsibilities. But we don’t have genuine communities when older people must leave home or be trapped in substandard conditions.

How ever did the simple realization that a stitch in time saves nine become the regulatory: don’t call us if it’s less than a 500 million dollar or 500 thousand population crisis?

Site Search Tags: USACE, Army+Corps, energy, weatherization, elderly, relocation, erosion, FEMA, HUD, opinion, APRN.org, emergency, USDA, NRCS, legislation, aging+in+place, climate+change, Davis+Inlet, Innu, Canada, Natuashish, note+bene

Table of Contents, chronological, updated

mpb — Thu, 13 Mar 2008 22:39:17 +0000

I updated the Table of Contents by chronological order yesterday. This provides a listing by title from oldest to newest (the reverse order from the web log normal). Haven’t yet done the update to the alphabetical contents.

In either case, the ToC can be useful to discover other things of interest to a reader. There may still be glitches (I’m getting better at entitling and tagging but never perfect) so the search functions on the sidebar are also recommended.

Because the ToC is a “page” and not a “post” it does not get updated by RSS feed, so I’m making this post.

[revised]

Site Search Tags: Table+of+Contents, revised, chronological, ToC, index

Song in Yup’ik to time handwashing

mpb — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 06:16:53 +0000

Hands should be washed for 20 seconds, at least. That’s very hard for many adults to time, so it is suggested to sing Good Morning to You (royalty free) or Happy Birthday twice. See previous, Song to time hand washing for hygiene and disease prevention

A young friend of mine and her younger brother helped me record this version of the birthday song in Yup’ik Eskimo. Total playing time is 20 seconds (mp3 file).

The file Yupik_HBday0049.mp3 identified by urn:sha1:KPQRDRWNTGAC5FPTO7JT5KRSZZROMVTG is licensed to the public under the Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 Unported license.
Happy Birthday song in Yup’ik Eskimo. Click to play in your browser or right click to download and play (mp3)

Site Search Tags: hands, handwashing, song, mp3, Yup’ik, children, hygiene, timer, Central Eskimo, Alaska, birthday, Kuskokwim, schools

Briefs 5a, now Tumblrd

mpb — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 21:06:32 +0000

(click image to see original) I will be trying out a new format for these notes. Briefs are things which I think are of interest to you all but which I can’t add anything of my own to them (so why bore everyone). The new format is at the bottom of the post.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heat from the street
Dec 6th 2007
From The Economist print edition

Energy: A clever new system uses asphalted roads, rather than solar panels, to collect solar energy in order to heat an office building

SOMETIMES the simplest ideas are the best. To absorb heat from the sun efficiently you need large, flat, black surfaces. One way to do that is to construct those surfaces specially, on the roofs of buildings. But why go to all that trouble when cities are full of black surfaces already, in the form of asphalted roads?

This was the thought that occurred ten years ago to Arian de Bondt, an engineer who works for Ooms, a Dutch building company. Dr de Bondt eventually persuaded the firm to follow it up. The result is that its headquarters in Scharwoude is now heated in winter by a system that relies on the surface of the road outside.

http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10202728&fsrc=RSS

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Bird flu blamed, as badminton camp abandoned
NDTV.com - New Delhi,India

The sports ministry says its hands are tied because of import restrictions from China on account of bird flu. All shuttles used in India are imported and …

The sports ministry says its hands are tied because of import restrictions from China on account of bird flu. All shuttles used in India are imported and they are made from goose feathers.

Former shuttler Uday Pawar has a different take on that. “Chinese shuttles are the best in the world,” he says. “They are chemically treated so there is nothing to worry about. SAI should have convinced the sports ministry of them.

By rough estimates, players need 15-20 shuttles a day. BAI claims this has nothing to do with bird flu. It’s just SAI causing procedural delays.

Unfortunately, local shuttlecocks cannot resolve this crisis. India’s international players can’t use them because of their poor quality.

http://www.ndtv.com/convergence/ndtv/showsports.aspx?id=SPOEN20080040628&ch=2/7/2008%2011:07:00%20AM

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Science in the News” an e-newsletter produced by Sigma Xi

The Water Filtration System in a Straw from Scientific American

Sometimes, it’s the simplest technologies that have the greatest potential impact on people’s lives. Take the Vestergaard Frandsen Group’s mobile personal filtration system, otherwise known as LifeStraw. It is a powder-blue plastic tube - much thicker than an ordinary straw - containing filters that make water teeming with typhoid-, cholera- and diarrhea-causing microorganisms drinkable.

The filters, made up of a halogenated resin, kill nearly 100 percent of bacteria and nearly 99 percent of the viruses that pass through LifeStraw.

A University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill evaluation tested the device’s performance in water containing Escherichia coli B and Enterococcus faecalis bacteria and the MS2 coliphage virus as well as iodine and silver. The results indicated that LifeStraw filtered out all contaminants to levels where they don’t pose a health risk to someone drinking the water.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I am not as clever as //engtech at internetducttape.com so I haven’t yet learned his automatic technique for posting a series of quick notes from hlthenvt.Tumblr.com into the blog here. Until I do, here is the latest set of Briefs in the new format posted as a comment. If you don’t want to wait for me to figure how to post the digests, you may subscribe to the feed of the Tumblr itself here, RSS- http://hlthenvt.tumblr.com/rss

Dear Reader: appearance change

mpb — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 06:12:29 +0000

I’m switching back to displaying the latest posts on the entry webpage, rather than the welcome/about page. Unless someone has a preference for the welcome page (let me know). I’m not sure which alternative is most useful to readers. I could also set one of the other posts or pages as the entry, such as the handwashing post. Any suggestions?

Draft bill– Alaska Reserve Police Officers Act (VPSO/VPO)

mpb — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 08:19:19 +0000

VPSO task force issues report on village safety was reported on APRN statewide public radio, Tue, January 29, 2008. There was a follow-up discussion by several listeners. One, Eric W., mentioned:

I submitted a draft bill to Rep. Harris’ office last year (and again this year) which would change the state statutes and allow for armed, volunteer reserve peace officers for the various agencies around the state. Currently, there is no such law allowing for or giving authority to reserve peace officers.

To continue the discussion, I am posting the draft bill here. The numbers in the left margin are only for reference for discussion purposes. If you have questions or suggested changes on the draft, simply mention the line numbers so others may follow along. For example, “Lines 79 to 83 are the last paragraph of the draft”.

Please read/listen to the original discussion, then add your suggestions or comments to http://aprn.org/2008/01/29/vpso-task-force-issues-report-on-village-safety/. Comments stay open until March 23, 2008. You may also comment here, in the blocks below.

IN THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA TWENTY-FIFTH LEGISLATURE - FIRST SESSION BY
Offered:
Referred:
Sponsor(s):

A BILL FOR AN ACT ENTITLED ALASKA RESERVE POLICE OFFICERS ACT

“An Act relating to Minimum Standards for Police Officers.”

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF ALASKA:

*Article 1. 13 AAC 85 is amended to add:
13 AAC 85.025 Reserve police officers authorized. (a) A law enforcement agency
may authorize reserve police officers.
(b) A person who meets the minimum standards under13 AAC 85.010 for
appointment as a peace officer may be appointed as a reserve police officer.
(c) An agency establishing a law enforcement reserve force
shall adopt and publish a manual setting forth the minimum qualifications, minimum
training standards, and standard operating procedures for reserve police officers.
Prohibition on reduction of full-time officers. A local government may not reduce
the authorized number of permanent law enforcement officers through the
appointment or utilization of reserve officers.
13 AAC 85.055 Basic reserve police officer training program required. (a) No
reserve police officer may be authorized to function as a police officer of a law
enforcement agency performing general law enforcement duties after 14 months
from the original appointment unless the reserve police officer has satisfactorily
completed a minimum 88 hour basic training program which must include but need
not be limited to the following course content:
(1) introduction and orientation–1 hour;
(2) police ethics and professionalism–1 hour;
(3) criminal law–4 hours;
(4) laws of arrest–4 hours;
(5) criminal evidence–4 hours;
(6) administration of criminal law–2 hours;
(7) communications, reports, and records–2 hours;
(8) crime investigations–3 hours;
(9) interviews and interrogations–2 hours;
(10) patrol procedures–6 hours;
(11) crisis intervention–4 hours;
(12) police human and community relations–3 hours;
(13) juvenile procedures–2 hours;
(14) defensive tactics–4 hours;
(15) crowd control tactics–4 hours;
(16) firearms training–30 hours;
(17) first aid–10 hours; and
(18) examination and testimony–2 hours.
(b) The law enforcement agency is responsible for training its reserve police officers
in accordance with minimum training standards established by the Alaska Police
Standards Council.
Status of reserve officer upon appointment. Upon being appointed by the chief
law enforcement administrator of the agency and only while on assigned duty a
reserve officer is vested with the same powers, rights, privileges, obligations, and
duties as any other peace officer in the state.
Limitations on activities of reserve officers. (a) A reserve police officer may only
be appointed on the orders and at the direction of the chief law enforcement
administrator of the agency.
(b) A reserve police officer may act only in a supplementary capacity to the agency.
Minimum Service Hours. A reserve police officer must serve a minimum of 16
hours per month or an aggregate of 192 hours per year to maintain certification as a
reserve police officer. Reserve police officers failing to meet this minimum standard
will have their certification revoked and must complete the minimum basic training
program prior to being reinstated.
Restrictions on carrying weapons. (a) No reserve police officer may carry
weapon:
(1) while on assigned duty until the reserve police officer has qualified on the firing
range with a weapon in compliance with the firearms qualifying course conducted
by the Alaska law enforcement academy; and
(2) until authorized by the agency chief law enforcement administrator to carry a
weapon.
(b) Reserve police officers:
(1) are subordinate to permanent law enforcement officers; and
(2) may not serve unless supervised by a permanent law enforcement officer whose
span of control would be considered within reasonable limits.
Reserve police officer change in residency. A reserve police officer may change
permanent residency to another part of the state and remain a reserve police officer
of the agency to which the reserve police officer was appointed or transfer to a new
agency provided that:
(1) the statutory basic training requirements have been met;
(2) the probationary period established by the law enforcement agency is completed;
and
(3) approval for continuing membership or transfer is granted by the chief law
enforcement administrator controlling the reserve unit.
Termination of reserve police officers. Reserve police officers serve at the
discretion of the chief law enforcement administrator and may be terminated by
written notification at any time by the chief law enforcement administrator without
any cause.
Prohibition on participation in certain pension and retirement systems. A
reserve police officer may not participate in any pension or retirement system
established for permanent law enforcement officers.
Provision of workers’ compensation coverage. Each law enforcement agency that
utilizes reserve police officers shall provide full workers’ compensation coverage for
the officers while they are providing actual service for the agency. The agencies
shall pay to the insurer an appropriate premium, as established by the insurer, to
cover the insurance risk of providing coverage to the officers.

Site Search Tags: police, Alaska, law+enforcement, public+safety, VPSO, VPO, , village+police, legislation, APRN.org, reserve+officer, criminal+justice, justice, community+values, ethics, rural+justice

Jesse Lee Home, Alaska and the pandemic of 1919

mpb — Sun, 24 Feb 2008 02:11:01 +0000

It is important that we understand how we coped in the past with pandemics in order to learn what is important to us as a people and to cope with future disasters. The Spanish Flu or world influenza pandemic of 1918 didn’t devastate Alaska until 1919. See related posts here

There are some written records, but many histories have yet to be written. Fortunately, Raymond L Hudson has recently published a history of the Jesse Lee Home. This was an Alaska orphanage set up, like so many, to care for children orphaned by illnesses in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Jesse Lee Home was originally established in Unalaska/Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands. See Where can one hear both verses of state song? .

In an editorial, the Anchorage Daily News noted,

The Jesse Lee Home occupies a special place in Alaska history: It is the birthplace of Alaska’s flag. Thirteen-year-old Benny Benson lived at Jesse Lee when he entered a schoolchildren’s contest to design a territorial flag in 1927. His design won, and the first place it flew as Alaska’s official flag was the Jesse Lee Home.

Beyond the Benson connection, the Jesse Lee Home has a special meaning to Alaska Natives. Early in the 20th century, epidemics ravaged many Native areas and left behind many orphans. The Jesse Lee Home, which moved from Unalaska to Seward in 1925, sheltered and raised many of the youngsters left behind.

The chapter is kindly reprinted by permission, all rights reserved. Raymond L. Hudson 2007 Family After All: Alaska’s Jesse Lee Home, Vol. I, Unalaska, 1889-1925. Walnut Creek, CA: Hardscratch Press. ISBN 978-0-9789979-0-8. (www.hardscratchpress.com)
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Chapter 30 The Pandemic of 1919

By the time World War I ended with the signing of the armistice on Nov. 11, 1918, an influenza epidemic had crossed the United States and arrived on the west coast. In two years this pandemic would claim 50 million victims worldwide, including 675,000 Americans. Thousands of revelers in San Francisco wore protective face masks as they danced in the streets to celebrate the peace. Officials in Alaska were understandably worried. At Unalaska the dance halls and pool rooms were closed. Sailors were not allowed ashore.

The winter was stormy, but the general health of the people at Unalaska remained good. By spring, the threat seemed to have passed and life returned to normal. Dr. Newhall made a slightly ironic list of things to be thankful for: the local boys who had served in the war were unharmed; the flu had spared the village; snow was only five feet deep between the two Jesse Lee Home buildings; it was too stormy to dig clams, but plenty of clams were still waiting on the beach; the store was out of white sugar and table salt, but soft coal was only $25 a ton.

As May drew to a close, the weather cleared. The U.S.S. Saturn was in port to service the Navy radio station. Father Khotovitskii returned from visiting one of the outlying villages. Then on Friday, May 23, people began falling ill [1]. The speed with which the flu permeated the village was phenomenal. By Monday the influenza was epidemic, and the commanding officer of the Saturn wired Captain F.E. Dodge on the Coast Guard cutter Unalga anchored in Seredka Bay on Akun Island [2]. As Dodge took the Unalga toward Unalaska, a wire came from Dr. Linus H. French at the Kanakanak Hospital that the entire Bristol Bay region was being ravaged by influenza. On anchoring at Unalaska and inspecting the village, Dodge decided to remain at Unalaska. He wired Coast Guard headquarters in Washington, the governor of Alaska, and Dr. French about his decision.

On Wednesday morning, May 28, the Unalga tied up at the A.C. Co. dock in order to be better able to deliver assistance. Five people had died since the illness began. Dodge inspected the village, the Dutch Harbor settlement, and the naval radio station near Dutch Harbor. The magnitude of what he found was reflected in the repetition of his report:

…native population all down and helpless, unable to cook or care for themselves in any way. All teachers and inmates of the Jesse Lee Home sick and helpless, all government school teachers sick and helpless, the people at the jail and A.C. Company house sick and helpless, all at U.S. Naval Radio Station sick and helpless, except the Chief Operator who is working night and day….[3]

“It appeared to be a case where it was necessary for the entire ship’s force to co-operate,” he wrote, “without a thought of their own personal health or comfort in order to combat the situation with assurance of success.” He called for volunteers. The ship’s surgeon, F.H. Johnson, oversaw all medical relief. He was assisted by the pharmacist’s mate, E.S. Chase. The officer in charge of the commissary prepared food. Overall relief work and the distribution of food fell to the executive officer, along with the job of getting a service hospital in shape in case members of the crew fell ill. While the ship’s carpenter N. Bruinilla built coffins, Boatswain S.B. Johnson and a detail of men dug graves. Three volunteers headed by Dental Surgeon E.W. Scott went to the naval radio station and to Dutch Harbor. The village itself was covered by three men under Lieutenant C.E. Anderson with headquarters at the A.C. Co. office. The Jesse Lee Home became the responsibility of Captain of Engineers T.G. Lewton and six men: ordinary seamen L. Straley and F.E. Honeywell, seamen 2^nd class F.K. Briggs and M.V. Wilson, and firemen 3^rd class S.O. Johnson and J.B. Sowell. Other men would be added to these lists.

Dr. Newhall was one of the first to fall ill. He was bedridden, and within a short time the entire staff followed. Only five children escaped. Simeon Oliver remembered that Benny Benson was one of these. “Why he didn’t come down with it, no one seemed to know,” Simeon said, “probably too ornery or something of this sort. He was a lonely boy. We’d hear him outside singing to himself. He never strayed far from our open windows. We could always hear him singing or talking to himself or tapping stones. There wasn’t even a dog around with which he could play. [4]“

The Home became even more crowded when Lucy Rosenberg and her children sought shelter. They were followed by Andrew, Paul and Sarah Morton. The doctor was relieved when Captain Lewton and his six men arrived. The women on the staff, on the other hand, were nervous about un-chaperoned sailors roaming the halls of the girls’ dorm and chatting with those well enough to talk. Too sick to protest, however, they stayed in their rooms confined to bed. Dr. Newhall was thankful.

It was a good thing they could not get down into the kitchen. Oh, that kitchen - grease, grease, grease - the floor was a veritable skating rink. Slid quite a ways on a fried slice of bacon and that at 75 cents per lb - The greasy dishpan with its never ending pile of dirty dishes. All kinds of dishes were used and it made no difference how they went into the dish pan. Company dishes, cut glass, silverware, pots and pans all the same, around the scummy pan they swished. Washcloths that belonged to the girls with crocheted edges were used for dish rags and they wiped on any old thing, roller towels, etc., and they didn’t get washed after every meal. The sink spout must have become disjointed the first day or so and all kinds of dirty water etc. was going on the floor under the sink. The sailors liked boiled beans the best but they were not always well done, and often were not salt[ed] enough. At last the convalescents got solid food. fried eggs reeking with grease, toast soaked with butter, potatoes peeled and fried until they were dark with grease, beef steak served cold sometimes and half an inch more or less of grease on it; bacon, Oh! such thick slices. The doctor, before the flu, thot he had indigestion and couldn’t eat greasy things, but guess he was cured after the grease diet. But the sailor boys were happy - they smoked and chatted and every and anon feasted on the good things sent up from the cutter. Out on the beach the seagulls and ravens held high carnival and daily banquets.

By May 29 the situation had worsened. Captain E.A. Coffin joined Lewton at the Home, “nursing, feeding and doctoring them as all are sick and helpless there,” according to Captain Dodge. By the end of the day, the total dead in the village had reached nine. Men from the ship went into homes to build fires, deliver food, nurse the sick, and carry out the dead. The next morning Anna Lukanin and her newborn child were found dead while her four other children stood shivering in the cold house. They had gone hungry for two days. The father or father-in-law died later that day. May 30 also saw the death of Alexandra Sokolnikov. Her husband, Vasilii, had worked at the whaling plant at Akutan where he had died a few days earlier. Dodge ordered a vacant house to be thoroughly cleaned and turned into a temporary home for orphans or children whose parents were too sick to care for them. Master at Arms Peter Bugaras and three other men were placed in immediate charge of 12 children. Eighty-five years later, Alexandra and Vasilii Sokolnikov’s son recalled being taken with his sister to “one of the warehouses used by the A.C. Company.” [5] The boy, Vasilii, would eventually be adopted by Afenogin Ermeloff of Nikolski and become known as Bill Ermeloff. By June 4 there were 26 children crowding what was called “an improvised orphanage.” For decades people remembered teams of sailors delivering food to homes. Most frequently, pails of soup were carried from house to house with long waits between deliveries. The boys in the Home referred to the soup as belly wash. It didn’t fill them up much, according to Newhall. “One most caved in before the next meal came,” he wrote. “One feller said he was so hungry and so thin that his ‘umbilical’ button had stuck to his back bone (but he didn’t say umbilical).”

… a sailor was bringing up a pail of soup from the ship and he dropped his Sunday shoes in it. Two sailors were carrying two heavy pails of soup to the houses in the village when a sick man looked out and saw them set down their pails and have a smoke and a chat while in the meantime two dogs were licking away at the soup in the pails. The sailors laughed and went along on their errand of mercy. O finicky folks - what they don’t know they needn’t worry about. However, that patient didn’t eat any of that soup.

One of our convalescents went over to the other house and they had fried beefsteak for dinner and it was in liberal pieces but greasy and tough. The poor fellow was weak in body and in the jaw but he chewed and he chawed looking at me with a most solemn mien until I had to laugh and asked him what was the matter. “Well,” he said, “I am trying to make out whether this is bull meat or belt leather.”

Dr. Johnson visited Margaret Lewis at the Home on May 29. She had given birth to a son a few days earlier and complications had developed. He performed surgery and administered an antistreptococi vaccine and a saline solution, “all of which did no good.” She died on the evening of May 31. She was 24 years old. Lotta Ketchum was the member of the staff who stayed on her feet the longest. She was able to care for the infant until she finally fell ill and handed the job over to one of the seamen. He was a tall, lanky man, as Dr. Newhall described him, who came into the doctor’s room and said, “Wall, I’ve got a new job - got to take care of that kid and feed ‘im.” Newhall looked at him and asked, “Are you going to bring it up on the breast or the bottle?” The sailor stood dazed for a moment and then burst out laughing. “Wall, by gosh, guess it will have to be the bottle - breasts are pretty dry.” On June 1 Leontii Sivtsov died. He was a deacon in the church and an accomplished linguist who had assisted Waldemar Jochelson in the collection of Aleut folk tales in 1909 and 1910. Nekifor Dyakanoff also died that day. He was the head of a prominent family and several of his children and grandchildren, including Kathryn Dyakanoff Seller, had lived at the Home. His home was on Hog Island in Unalaska Bay. Although warned to stay on the island, he came into the village and contracted the illness. [6]

The next day, Peter Kashevaroff died at noon. He was survived by Eliza and five children aged four to nine. His body, like so many others, was placed in a simple coffin and taken to the cemetery on a cart. Newhall wrote about “the rattle of the wheels on the beach stones” passing the Home, “telling of one more victim - that was all.” The dead were buried in rows. Eventually the Iliuliuk Club purchased a stone marker for Peter’s grave on which was engraved his service as president of the organization. He was not quite 35 when he died. Lilly Rosenberg Anderson, who had lived at the Home off and on and who had recently married, also died on June 2. She was Lucy Leavitt’s sister-in-law. With the death that same day of Mary Pokopeuff Levigne, the noted basketry teacher and a close friend of Dr. Newhall, the casualties had reached 31. Simeon Oliver looked out his dormitory window and saw coffins sitting outside houses waiting for someone inside to die. Day after day Captain Dodge sent radiograms telling of no improvement. The entire ship’s company was employed in relief work. More orphan children were placed in the improvised home. From May 28 to June 1, 350 rations had been distributed each day. On June 2 the number slightly decreased. On June 3 the Bear arrived in port with Captain Uberoth, commander of the Bering Sea fleet. The surgeons from the Bear and Unalga divided the work on shore, with the Bear’s surgeon taking the portion of town from the marshal’s office eastward. Governor Riggs wired that the Navy vessel Marblehead was being sent with Navy doctors, Public Health doctors, and nurses. Dodge wired back that while he needed help nursing the ill, the Marblehead could not offer sufficient assistance to the Bristol Bay region. The governor felt unsupported by the federal government. On the June 5, he wired Dodge, who had fallen ill himself the day before:

Can get no satisfaction from Washington, they passed the buck to me last epidemic and evidently doing same thing again. My funds very small but allot you additional five hundred. Appreciate your splendid work and will co-operate best of my limited ability. Do not spend too much money on coffins for dead, but conserve all available funds for care of living. Keep me constantly advised so that I can punch up Washington. Am asking ten thousand for your immediate use.

Twelve men from the Bear came ashore to help dig graves, carry coal, and deliver food under the direction of officers from the Unalga. Deputy U.S. Marshal Paul Buckley had also arrived on the Bear. He readily agreed to the transfer of the 12 oldest children from the temporary home to the jail to relieve crowding. The two schoolteachers, Agnes Danford and Miss Gard, were also taken to the jail after they contracted the flu. Reports of influenza reaching Akutan arrived on June 3. The village was quarantined and no ships were allowed to land. By June 6, 33 women and children in the village were ill. The men, working at the whaling station across the bay, were also stricken. On June 4, Feodore Moriss, the adopted son of Annie and Mark Moriss, died. He was 15. Annie herself died three days later. On June 6 Dr. Newhall was well enough to relieve the sailors, who then returned to the Unalga. They gave the kitchen a thorough scrubbing before they left. Throughout the village, people began to convalesce. The number of rations distributed was down from 350 to 90. People were still seriously ill, however. With the deaths of Zoe Borenin on the 11th and Nicolai Kudren on the 13th, the epidemic came to a close. According to Captain Dodge, there had been 46 deaths. Newhall said 44 had died, and this number is reflected in district court records.

The children in the “improvised orphan’s home” were returned to parents who were still alive. “Those whose parents were dead,” wrote Dodge, “were taken by other native families in the village, under the directions of the Rev. D. A. Hotovitsky [Khotovitskii].” On the 12^th the building used for the children was cleaned and locked. Dodge submitted a bill to Agnes Danford, as the representative of the Bureau of Education. There had been 3,120 rations distributed costing .98953 cents each, for a total of $3,087.3336. In addition, he gave her an itemized bill for miscellaneous expenditures for $1,088.44.

On June 17 the Unalga sailed for Bristol Bay. Father Khotovitskii and Chief Alexei Yatchmeneff wrote to Captain Dodge on July 1 thanking him on behalf of the community for “the heroic work” he and his men had done. “We feel had it not been for the prompt and efficient work of the Unalga, when everyone willingly and readily exposed himself to succor the sick,” they wrote, “Unalaska’s population might have been reduced to a very small number if not entirely wiped out.” They offered prayers “for the welfare of everyone of the good ship Unalga, who so cheerfully risked their lives to save the people of Unalaska.”

The staff at the Home followed the next day with a letter expressing gratitude for “the aid and kindly ministrations given to the sick at the home.” The Home and the village had indeed been fortunate, wrote Dr. Newhall, “that the U.S.C.G. Unalga was near and that Captain F.E. Dodge came to our help so promptly, and so efficiently took charge of the situation.” The letter was signed by A.W. Newhall, Edith Gavitt, Emma E. Supernaw, Earl R. Lewis, and Lotta Ketcham.

On September 15 Dr. Newhall and Alexei Yatchmeneff filled out 44 death records for the district court.[7] The Unalga returned to Unalaska at the end of the season and prepared to sail south. Eliza Kashevaroff left aboard the shiip on October 15. She took her five children: Elinore, 9; Chester, 8; Victor, 6; Ethel, 5; and Mildred, 4. According to family tradition, Peter Kashevaroff’s dying request to his wife had been that his children receive an education in the States.[8] Also leaving were Lucy Rosenberg, Katie Rosenberg, and Sarah Morton.[9] Samuel Applegate and the agent of the Alaska Commercial Company had requested passage for all of them. The log of the vessel noted that they were leaving because “there is no means of support for them at Unalaska, their natural protectors having passed away during the epidemic of influenza.” Eliza Kashevaroff lived to be an elderly woman. For her 90^th birthday she showed her younger relatives that she could still bend at the hip and touch her hands to the floor.[10]

Throughout the epidemic the weather had been unnaturally fine: sunny days and calm nights. Years afterward, whenever good weather persisted for more than a couple of days, the older residents of the village who had been alive in 1919 began to get nervous.

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Notes–

1 F.G. Dodge to M.E. Reynolds, Commodore Commandant, U.S. Coast Guard. June 30, 1919. NARA. RG 26, Box 1846.

2 Simeon Oliver, tape-recorded conversation with Henry Swanson, Philemon Tutiakoff and Ray Hudson, May 25, 1979.

3 Bill Ermeloff conversation with Ray Hudson, Sept. 1, 2005.

4 Walter Dyakanoff conversation with Ray Hudson, April 25, 1996.

5 Third Judicial District. Unalaska Record Book, pp. 71-114.

6 Elizabeth Haralson conversation with Ray Hudson, Jan. 17, 2006. She is a granddaughter and namesake of Eliza Kashevaroff.

7 Ship’s Log. U.S. Coast Guard cutter Unalga. Oct. 15, 1919. NARA. RG-26.

8 Elizabeth Haralson conversation with Ray Hudson, Jan. 17, 2006. Mildred Kashevaroff Johanensen died at the age of 91 on Nov. 5, 2006.

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Ray Hudson is an historian and artist. Previous works include– Moments rightly placed : an Aleutian memoir Language: English Publisher: Fairbanks : Epicenter Press 1998.

People of the Aleutian Islands Unalaska City School District (Alaska) 1986.

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Yukon Kuskokwim Bethel babies alert

mpb — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 06:27:13 +0000

Once again, babies are sick, but this time in the YK Delta. Inflammation can lead to scarring of lungs; high fevers can stop children’s bone and tooth growth for a short while; other infections may take advantage of weaknesses.

Give germs the boot, not our babies: unwashed hands make everyone sick (see comments and post)

[revised 1] and not just for babies–

Virus that struck Our Island Home no longer concern
Nantucket Independent, USA -
10, four of the home’s residents, aged 71 to 96, are believed to have succumbed to respiratory syncytial virus, a virus so common most children have been [...] http://www.nantucketindependent.com/news/2008/0220/Other_news/007.html

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Virus hits Western Alaska children hard, ALEX DeMARBAN, Tundra Drums
February 19, 2008 at 4:55PM AKST

State health officials are warning Alaskans to scrub hands frequently to help stem a nasty respiratory illness that’s walloping children in Western Alaska.

Health-care providers said they believe more than 82 children have contracted respiratory syncytial virus, known as RSV, in the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta since Jan. 1. At least 47 children have been hospitalized, according to a written statement from the state Department of Health and Social Services.
…
More than one-fourth of RSV-infected infants and young children develop bronchial inflammation or pneumonia, according to physicians. Recoveries may take two weeks or more.

The Bethel-region hospital, the Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corp., has flown some children to Anchorage hospitals because beds overflowed with sick youngsters [...]

http://thetundradrums.com/news/show/1499

[revised 2] At http://aprn.org/2008/02/20/y-k-virus-targets-infants/ you can hear that this year’s RSV is the worst since 1995 (presumably number of cases) and that RSV in our region is not seasonal but nearly a year-round infection. There hasn’t been any mention of the implication of lack of local hospital beds for pandemics or serious epidemics such as seasonal influenza.

It is difficult to change one’s habits but it can be done. See these posts and comments for further references and suggestions

Site Search Tags: RSV, pneumonia, bronchitis, hands, handwashing, respiratory, bed+capacity, YKHC, Yukon, Kuskokwim, Tundra+Drums, seasonal, babies, infants, virus, APRN.org, preparedness