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Vol. 89 Issue 22 • Wednesday, May 30, 2012 • www.arrowlakesnews.com • 250-265-3823 • $1.25 Includes HST
Getting smart about the birds and the bees ER workers train in Nakusp
Teresa Weatherhead believes abuse prevention is a key aspect of sex education. CLAIRE PARADIS/ARROW LAKES NEWS By Claire Paradis Arrow Lakes News
Sex. That’s right; what you’re about to read is all about the “birds and bees,” or at least what it takes to teach our kids about it. Often a complex topic that many parents find difficult to broach and more kids find totally embarrassing to talk about with their moms and dads, sex can be a subject of intense curiosity and mystery. Teresa Weatherhead, the newly-minted official sex educator in Nakusp, has been bringing “Sex Talks” to schools in the area for years. Now that she has completed her training, she can help more kids get a good education about the facts of life. “Now I can teach to the prescribed learning outcomes,” she said, which means she can present information that teachers may not be comfortable with. The change also means she’ll be going to talk with elementary students too. “Sex education in elementary schools looks a lot different. We call it ‘Body Science’,” she explained. The program teaches kids the proper terminology for body parts and educates them so they aren’t targets for predators. “Abuse prevention is another reason we do sexual health education, it doesn’t matter what age,” said Weatherhead. Another part of the education is about developing positive body image, which starts in the early years too. Developing a positive body image is critical to a positive
self-image, said the sex educator, so time is spent discussing the changes that happen in puberty, letting the kids know that what is happening is normal and nothing to feel awkward about. No newbie to sexual health, Weatherhead has been involved with the Options for Sexual Clinic in Nakusp for 14 years, and she has seen big shifts in the community over those years. “Initially the most gratifying change was seeing young women take charge of their own sexual health,” said Weatherhead. “OPTtions for Sexual Health Clinic started in 1996, at which time the teen pregnancy rate in Nakusp was the highest per capita. Within two years of running, by 1998 the teen pregnancy had dropped to well below average.” The change has come about not in small part because of the people who staff the clinic. All the volunteers at the clinic are highly trained, said Weatherhead, with both a nurse and doctor available as well. The clinic runs two pap clinics per year, a real boon to women who might otherwise be waiting even longer if they wait until a female locum comes through town. At the clinic, confidentiality is paramount. “In all the years we’ve been running, we’ve never had a leak,” she said, who stressed that the high level of confidentiality at the clinic is what creates the environment that allows people to feel comfortable coming in and talking. Right now, she is keen on letting young people know about the HPV vaccine which works to protect against two of the more virulent strains of the virus. Weatherhead’s faith in young people is clear, and she sees them as being more educated, smarter and unprejudiced than older generations, thanks to increased access to information. “They’re educated and they’re smart, and they understand that becoming sexually active is a decision-making process,” she stated. Even so, the world is still very small here in Nakusp. “Population-wise we’re probably not the most diverse community,” she admitted, “[but] we definitely do have a queer community here.” One that more people are aware and accepting of, Weatherhead believes.
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Doctors, nurses and paramedics from the area came to Arrow Lakes Hospital May 25 and 26 to practise ER skills. CLAIRE PARADIS/ARROW LAKES NEWS medics, there were only four in this group, By Claire Paradis said local doctor Norm Lea. Arrow Lakes News Nonetheless, there were enough doctors “What are they doing up at the hospi- and nurses from Kaslo, New Denver and tal?” a long-time Nakuspian asked me last Nakusp, and a lone Grand Forks visitor, to Saturday, May 26. make up a good-sized Arrow Lakes group. If you had stopped by the Arrow Lakes For both mornings, they attended classes Hospital that afternoon, you may have seen and then split into three groups in the afterone of three teams wandering into and out noons to run through scenarios practising of various rooms in the building. the skills they had learned. About two dozen health care profesRural health care practitioners get exposionals gathered at the Arrow Lakes Hos- sure to all kinds of cases in an emergency pital last weekend for emergency medical room, said coordinator Rebecca Lindley. training tailored for rural locations. The These courses offer specific training that weekend was one of a series of continuing will serve them well in a rural ER, she professional development programs put to- said. gether by the Rural Coordination Centre of During the afternoon scenarios, the parBC, an organization that focuses on educa- ticipants practised skills like intubation, tion as well as recruitment and retention of packaging patients for transport and more. medical personnel to rural centres. A dummy was used for the intubation, This particular educational program is but one lucky person was bundled into a the CARE (Comprehensive Approach to clamshell stretcher and strapped down for Rural Emergencies) course, which is being transport, mimicking the real thing. delivered to rural centres across B.C. Practise builds confidence, said Lindley, The program usually consists of an even so each session has both classroom theoretsplit of doctors, nurses and paramedics, but ical and hands-on practical components. because Nakusp is running short on para-
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