Hills, Hyperglycemia, Hypothermia, HIPAA ... You Get the Idea

So day two came with a vengeance and was a day filled with lectures.  I would also like to note that for those of you who have never been here before the hills are a killer (think San Francisco, no joke).  My ride to work was a 15 minute uphill ride the entire way.  No me gusta!

We kicked off the morning with a 4.5 hour CPR/First Aid class.  The instructor (a 30 year old veteran Paramedic) taught everything from memory.  Thankfully she kept things rolling with some great jokes and stories from the field.  So now if you begin to choke on an M&M or suddenly fall unconscious I will hopefully be able to come to your rescue.  The major bummer was that she did not bring the practice AED and we all know how much I LOVE to play with that thing ... I'm clear, you're clear, shocking patient.  Ahh, it brings me back to the days of athletic training!

Today some of the site partners came to present on some of the demographics we would be seeing at our placements.  For the first time I began to see the health statistics for Allegheny County and many of the problems mimic the data we found in the DC Metro area.  For those that have lived in/around Pittsburgh all their lives, they were surprised to learn about the high rates of HIV/AIDS and infant mortality. 

To my COPC followers:  Please check out the Healthy Start program.  This was by far the favorite lecture of the day because they use many aspects of the COPC cycle (depicted below).

For those of you who want to learn more about COPC (and what my degree actually focused on) click here for more info.

Probably the most vital component of their program outline is the use of their community in the decision making process.  For instance the board is comprised of 6 community members (usually those that have used their services) and 12 "field experts" ranging from lawyers, business people, medical staff and social workers.  In order for any kind of a policy to be put into place, it has to pass by 2/3 majority PLUS ONE.  This way the "field experts" cannot make a decision when those in the community will feel like it will do more harm than good. 

A comment was made later by a member that "seeing the partners get so excited about the work and their dedication to the cause is getting me excited to start at my site on Monday."  I could not have put it better myself.  Hopefully someone can remind me of this when I hit the mid service slump which apparently happens to all the volunteers at some point or another.

After a recommendation from the Trempus Labor Day BBQ, I bought a ticket for the Mexican War Street House and Garden tour.  The neighborhood is about a 10 minute walk from my apartment.  I have seen many of the houses from the outside, but am excited to see the work they have done in the gardens and inside the buildings.  I will try to snag some pictures and we can all wish together how we wished we lived in them.