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HYPOXIA

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Public Notices

Public Notices

and an understandable one, given that the two are connected: Not being able to breathe causes anxiety. Anxiety can also cause breathing problems such as hyperventilation. at’s a problem because doctors have to write a prescription for oxygen, said Mike Goldblatt, 67, of Evergreen. Goldblatt is hypoxic and doctors don’t know why. He was an arborist and guided y- shing trips and hikes. He also coaches and chases around his grandkids and plays golf and music in a band. Evergreen is at 7,400 feet and Goldblatt has no desire to move. Oxygen, which he uses when he’s active, makes his life far more normal than it would be otherwise.

“It feels a lot better,” Goldblatt said. But it irks him that oxygen is only available with a prescription. Patients also generally must choose between the portable tanks they use to hike and the large tanks that anchor many patients to their homes, Goldblatt said.

e o er of free training for prospective early childhood employees comes amid an ongoing shortage of child care and preschool teachers that’s led to shuttered classrooms at some centers. e need for quali ed sta has become even more pressing as Colorado prepares to launch a major expansion of tuition-free preschool in August. More than 31,000 4-year-olds are expected to participate.

“We are staying active,” Goldblatt said, referring to the hypoxic hiking group, “but 90% or more pulling oxygen aren’t. ey don’t realize they can get out.”

Insurance, he said, tends to restrict patients from portable tanks or limit them to a few per month, unless they ght. Medicaid doesn’t do this, at least for Shoaee, which is why she restricts her lifestyle to stay on it.

“Safety is what they call it,” Goldblatt said, “but it comes down to money.” ese are things that won’t be solved soon. But there are issues Shoaee believes she can address now. Carrying oxygen is a problem. A couple years ago she began talking to Osprey about designing a backpack speci cally for oxygen carriers.

“ e kinking is the most annoying part,” Lilly said. “Chantelle, can you x my tube? I’ve already been kinked up twice today.”

Kinking, of course, restricts oxygen ow, and the tubes get tangled. Lilly has a story about her tubes getting tangled while on a ski lift. She eventually had to be carried down by ski patrol because she needed the oxygen boost at the high elevation.

“I was so embarrassed,” she said.

Career Advance is the latest e ort by state policymakers to beef up the anemic pipeline of early childhood teachers. In recent years, the state used COVID stimulus money to pay for two introductory early childhood classes for hundreds of college students. It also o ered scholarship and apprenticeship programs for students seeking early childhood credentials.

In Colorado, where the median e Osprey backpack, Shoaee said, solves both issues. ere are holes in the pack where hypoxic hikers can thread, and therefore secure, their tubes, and the bottom of the pack has more padding as well as straps to hold the tank in place and distribute the weight evenly. e nal version should be out by the end of the year. e pack is an a rmation that people are paying attention.

Tanks are heavy, with the mobile tanks weighing up to 15 pounds. e tanks alone make a daypack weigh more than if it were stu ed with overnight gear.

“It will be life-changing for people on oxygen,” Shoaee said. “We aren’t saying you have to hike a 14er. You can walk around the block now. is makes it possible. ere’s so much annoying stu about this illness. A backpack shouldn’t be one of them.”

Shoaee founded Always Choose Adventures because of her experiences, but the organization tries to break down barriers for all kinds of marginalized groups in the outdoors, not just the hypoxic. Gerry Roach, the mountain master and author of many guide books, including iconic versions for the 14ers, preschool teacher wage is around $15.25 an hour, it’s hard to make a living in the early childhood eld. e cost of college classes or student loan debt makes the barrier to entry even higher. the Centennials, Rocky Mountain National Park and the Indian Peaks, is the board president. e path is steep — at one point she protests to her friends when they leave some distance between them and her — but eventually they do reach the top. She puts her hands on her knees. is story is from e Colorado Sun, a journalist-owned news outlet based in Denver and covering the state. For more, and to support e Colorado Sun, visit coloradosun.com. e Colorado Sun is a partner in the Colorado News Conservancy, owner of Colorado Community Media.

State o cials and advocates recently have taken tentative steps towards addressing the eld’s abysmal pay. As part of an e ort to pay preschool teachers a living wage, the state pays a higher per-student rate in the new universal preschool program than it pays public schools for each K-12 student. In addition, the state recently unveiled a report recommending a series of statewide early childhood salary scales that would signi cantly boost pay. For example, the suggested rate would be at least $22 an hour for early childhood teachers in metro Denver and some mountain communities. e salary scales are not binding for preschool and child care providers, but show what workers in di erent regions would need to earn to make a living wage.

Chalkbeat is a nonpro t news site covering educational change in public schools.

But she hopes to use her talents to raise awareness about hypoxia and maybe one day solve some of the other issues oxygen carriers must face when they venture outdoors.

“Could we do a hypoxic 14ers day?” she asks her group.

First, though, she wants to go on a little hike to a lake near her property.

It’s hard to live so high up, but the views are spectacular, and the air is fresh.

She straightens up and breathes it in.

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