FIELDNOTE_0426_NALUWAN_MOLLY
Today it was time for me to hold a workshop with everyone.
Today it was time for me to hold a workshop with everyone.
Today's visit started with all of us students going down to the canal that runs parallel to Naluwan to collect shells.
I arrived earlier than the other students and had some time to interact with Ivan and his family before the others arrived.
Also this week we spent time with the elderly in the community. Me and Charles had a conversation with a man in a wheelchair that Charles also talked to last time.
Liberian emergency responders are portrayed in the film as being completely overwhelmed by the situation at hand and unable to cope with the nature of the illness, people's innitial denial to the extreme communicability of the disease, and the sheer number of patients. Most predominantly, first responders are illustrated by 2 abandoned ambulances on the side of a road and by the story of a woman saying that an ambulance was called to a dying pregnant woman and they ended up leaving her on the side of the road for an ebola crew to respond to, which came too late.
This report does not specifically address disaster, however it shows a new trend in primary care medicine, taking it out of doctor's offices and hospital emergency rooms and bringing it into people's residences. Recent trends have shown massive increases in ED usage for non emergency conditions, causing a shortage in beds and resources. The communuty paramedic program has the purpose of "respond[ing] to identified health needs in underserved communities, ultimately improving the quality of life and health of rural and remote citizens and visitors." The report also cites previous community paramedic programs in Fort Worth, TX, and Nova Scotia, Canada, where the program was shown to decrease ED usage by 23% and reduce costs by over $2 million.
Art at Naluwan created by the former chief of the tribe.
(The gouverment refused to accept this as art.)