Wild Horse Island
http://www.archive.org/details/wildhorseislandv00montrich

This article is a great source, it give us some good back ground information on the types of fish that use to be in the lake prior to the lake trout infestation. It contains the depths, and temperatures of the lake, talks about the native fish and the natural reproduction system of the lake. I think I will use it as a tool to back up some of facts that I am going to put in my report. This is also the first article that talks about the oxygen in the lake and the depths the oxygen is at.

Lakes of Flathead County
Retrived from http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=flathead_lake&odid=484143861

This is the demographics of Flathead Lake and the history of the Lake. This is more of facts rather than stories. I will use this article because it gives me a lot of facts about the body of water itself. It gives me the history of the name” Flathead”, depths of the water, width and length of the lake. I will be using this information, because I believe will be important to the readers to have some information about the lake in which we are fishing,

Alt, David. "The Making of Flathead Lake" in Profiles of Montana Geology: A layman's guide to the Treasure State. Butte, MT: Montana Bureau of Mines and Geology, 1984
_________________________________________________________________________________
The role of benthic invertebrate species in freshwater ecosystems.
http://search.proquest.com/docprintview/216458800?accountid=67835

This article contains detailed information about the nutrient cycling of the lake as a freshwater source. The freshwater  supply depends on how various species make their living and contribute to complex food webs. It uses graphs that show the years of “build up” on the floor of a freshwater source and how it affects the micro species of the lake like the zooplankton which the Mysis feed off of.
This information is not so interesting by itself, but it helps me to understand why the Mysis shrimp thrive on the bottom of the lake the way they do, which in turn is a result to the Lake Trout.

Covich, Alan P; Palmer, Margaret A; Crowl, Todd The role of benthic invertebrate species in freshwater ecosystems A.Bioscience 49. 2 (Feb 1999): 119-127.
_________________________________________________________________________________
 Beyond Mere Ownership
http://search.proquest.com/docview/216118347??

This is a very short article, but it tells explains how the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes received the right to manage the wildlife and fish resources around Flathead Lake. That explains why they are making the decisions on the fish of Flathead Lake, and why it is so important to get the native fish back into the water.

Williams, Jason."Beyond Mere Ownership: How the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes used Regulatory Control Over Natural Resources to Establish a Viable Tribal Homeland."2004. Environmental History 9(4):786-786 (http://search.proquest.com/docview/216118347?accountid=67835).

___________________________________________________________________________________

Mack Days

http://www.mackdays.com/

This is the best source I have on my subject, and the most interesting one to read as well.
This article is an overview of the entire subject. It tells the reason for Mac Days, what has caused the problem and gives you the guidelines for the fishing derby. It also gives me an updated tally of the fish caught. There are lots of maps, to show the depth of the lake and the access sited, along with the Reservation cut off line. The Guide to the contest is in here. As long as you follow the guide you will have an equal chance of catching the biggest and most lake trout.

Barry Hansen, CSKT Fisheries Biologist, Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribe 2012

Fishing Contest aims to curb non-native trout
http://docs.newsbank.com/s/InfoWeb/aggdocs/AWNB/12C16D9ACE7A63F0/0D98BB457498B715?p_multi=CLAB&s_lang=en-US

This article is a good overview. It gives us a nice background on why the lake trout are such a big problem. It explained what caused the problem and some information on how they have tried to correct it. It also gives us somewhat of a time line to work off of. The purpose of this article is so you will get a quick understanding of why they are putting on the Mac Days Fishing Contest. The Information if found to be helpful is that the article gave us some numbers as to the population of the lake trout and the rate at which they are growing along with what to expect in the future.

Fishing contest aims to curb non-native trout Billings Gazette, The (MT) - September 26, 2007
____________________________________________________________________________________

Flathead Lake and River Fisheries CoManagement Plan

http://www.mackdays.com/

This Report is a great source of information on the fish population and how they have declined. The report contains History and Background, Defines the Management Plan, and the Pilot Project.  The report give us some great insight on the attempts they have tried and who has funded those attempt. It has some great photos of the fish that are over runing the lake and pictures of the fish that have been wipped out. There are some graphs included in this report that shows year by year the reversal in abundance of bull trout to lake trout and the amout of other fish consumed by the lake trout such as the Whitefish, Cutthroat, and Bull trout. It also gives some information on how the problem is rapidly spreading up the Middle Fork and the North Fork Rivers. I think this article is great. It has showed me the urgency of the issue.

Barry Hansen, CSKT Fisheries Biologist, Confederated Salish Kootenai Tribe 2012
____________________________________________________________________________________

Trout

http://ea.http://ea.grolier.cohttp://ea.grolier.com/article?id=0393560-00m/article?id=0393560-00

This is a source about the trout species it self. It tells where the lake trout originate and the description, behavior, diet, and economic impact they have the waters in which they live. I think the main idea of this source is to just give background information of the Trout species as a whole. But it also goes a little deeper into the well-known trout species as well. The information i found to be helpful is that it tells me the lake trout originated from Alaska, which explains why it is one of the largest freshwater game fish. It also give me the scientific name for the lake trout which is S.namacush (Lake Trout).

Coates, Christopher W. "Trout." Encyclopedia Americana. Grolier Online, 2012. Web. 28 Apr. 2012.
____________________________________________________________________________________

FAQ on the Fishery of Flathead Lake 

http://montanatu.org/

This article talks about one of the ways they are wanting to try and fix the problem, which is  gillnetting the lake trout and how it worked when done in other areas.This Source is also different in the way it has a question and answers portion. While reading over all the material I have. I've come up with some questions, and this report has those questions with the answers. Like how is Mac Days affecting all the fishing Charters in the Valley?That will be very helpful in my research project.

 Montana Trout Unlimited

_____________________________________________________________________________________

The effects of opossum shrimp
http://search.proquest.com/docview/845497739?accountid=67835

This article is about the opossum shrimp, known as the Mysis shrimp.  It gives good infomation about the shrimp and why the attemp of planting the Mysis failed. It explains that while they were trying to plant the shrimp to feed the Kokanee Salmon. The shrimp dove to the deep water where the Kokanee do not go. But infact that is where the LakeTrout are. So the Lake Trout ate the Mysis and grew at a incresingly rate. It was a small article, with alot of information in it. So i find the entire article very useful.

The effects of opossum shrimp. (2011). Nature, 469(7329), 134-134. http://search.proquest.com/docview/845497739?accountid=67835

Research Paper Assignment                                                                                                                Nichole Ramsey

                                                                                                                                                                           April 15, 2012

Letter of Intent

Conrad,

                The topic I have chosen for my Research Paper is Mackinaw Days at Flathead Lake. I know that it is a big fishing tournament where they catch thousands of fish in a short amount of time. They have this twice a year.  There must be a reason for this, since they give away thousands of dollars in prizes to get people to go out and catch as many fish as they can. There is not an entry fee, so it is not about raising money. Most species of fish have strict regulations and there is no way, we would be permitted to go out and catch that many fish. I am not sure what the circumstances are, that surround this species and why this is being permitted or allowed. My approach is going to be what are Mac Days and the history of the Mackinaw fish. I guess the big question for me is what is going on?

                I’ve chosen this subject because I live in the Flathead Valley and love to fish. Last year my husband and I finally got the nerve up to put our very small twelve foot aluminum fishing boat in the lake and try to catch one of these “Mac” fish and we had the time of our life.  Our first day out we must of caught eight or so fish and they were big fish. The biggest trout we have ever seen.  I caught a 34.5 inch trout; it took me almost an hour to get it up to the surface and in the boat. We have never caught such big trout in our life. We were hooked, and are looking forward to many years fishing this great lake of ours.  I would like to know who is controlling our waters and who decides what the future holds for them, and the local fishermen.  I do not have any background in this subject, except for what a charter captain said last weekend, when we charted a fishing boat for our anniversary.  That is when we found out there were reasons for Mac Days. A tribe in Polson is working towards a goal, of getting rid of the species, since the Mackinaws are not a native fish to these waters.  I would like to understand how we got to this point and what they are hoping to achieve.

                I have so many questions on this subject.  Such as, if these fish are not native to these waters where did they come from and how did they get here?  Why don’t they want them here?  Is it because they have a bad effect on the environment or another species of fish? What are they trying to accomplish as far as a goal?  What kind of things have they already tried to do, to correct the problem, if there is a problem?  What is the problem? There are so many questions out there that I would like to get answers to.

 Since we moved here nine years ago we have heard about Mac Days, and what a great fishing tournament it is. But, not once have we heard there was a reason for Mac Days.  It almost seems like someone is using Mac Days as a way to get rid of the species, without letting people know there is a controversial issue behind the tournament.  My current perspective on this subject is that we have an amazing world class fishing sport here in the flathead and I do not see any reason to get rid of it. I am looking forward to researching it and finding answers to all my questions.

                                          LOGICAL FALLACIES

1.)

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=DIRECT+TV+COMMERCIALS&mid=19A4C3E21D60A06FF5C819A4C3E21D60A06FF5C8&view=detail&FORM=VIRE2

2.)

 3.)

.http://health.msn.com/health-topics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100288898

                                        Tax Day Will Drive Up Fatal Crash Rates

TUESDAY, April 10 (HealthDay News) -- The upcoming income tax filing deadline might be taxing in more ways than one for Americans: A new study suggests that fatal crashes jump on Tax Day, possibly as a result of last-minute filers carelessly rushing to the post office to mail their returns.

The study's lead author said the research indicates that "stressful deadlines lead to driver distraction and human error."

"Almost all of these crashes could have been totally avoided by a small change in driver behavior. An awareness of this risk could lead to better road safety," said Dr. Donald A. Redelmeier, a professor of medicine at the University of Toronto.

But others who study traffic said it's hard to understand what the findings mean since other possibilities, such as more cars on the road, rather than lots of people too revved up to pay attention, could drive up crash statistics on Uncle Sam's big pay day.

"The problem with announcing that any one day has a greater-than-normal number of traffic crashes is that often, when adjusted for the higher number of travelers, the crash rate isn't actually higher than a typical weekend day," said Tom Vanderbilt, author of the book "Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do (and What It Says About Us)."

For the new study, published in the April 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Redelmeier and a colleague examined a database of fatal U.S. traffic accidents from 1980 to 2009. They looked specifically at crashes on the date taxes were due and the same day the week before and the week after.

While the federal government's typical filing deadline is April 15, it falls on Tuesday, April 17, this year.

Although the risk of dying on Tax Day is extremely small, it's a bit higher than on the other days. The researchers found an average of 226 fatal accidents on annual tax-due days compared to 213 on the other days. The increased risk is about 6 percent.

Increased risk was greatest for people younger than 65, the researchers said.

Redelmeier, who has investigated traffic fatality rates on other special days, said Tax Day is about as risky on the roads as Super Bowl Sunday. In 2008, he also reported that fatal crashes are more likely during polling hours on presidential election days, compared to other Tuesdays around the same time.

He said he thinks stress is the accelerator here. "It doesn't just hold on Tax Day but might also hold to other distinctly stressful times, such as when you're going through a divorce or something is wrong with your child or you've just lost your job," he said.

Chandra Bhat, a professor of transportation engineering at University of Texas at Austin, raised questions about the study. For one thing, he said, the study finds that people under the age of 18 are involved in more fatal crashes on Tax Day. It's not clear if they're passengers or drivers, he said, adding that if they're drivers, it's unlikely the crash increase is related to the tax deadline.

"Traffic accidents are such relatively rare events that a one-day period of observation may be inadequate to make conclusive observations," Bhat cautioned. "While I appreciate that the analysis design followed by the authors is quite good and that the authors have considered several years in their analysis, I still would be somewhat cautious in drawing conclusions."

Since the study didn't account for factors such as sleep deprivation, the authors recommend additional research that would ultimately beef up efforts aimed at prevention.

For now, they said, drivers should be reminded to wear seat belts, drive the posted speed limit and avoid alcohol on April 17.

                                                                       200 WORDS

                 Fallacies are all over the place. They are on the TV, radio, and in our newspaper ads.  I have found three fallacies on the internet.  The first fallacy I seen while I was lying in bed watching TV.  And a Direct TV commercial came on and lead us to believe that if we did not purchase Direct TV a chain of events would happen and it would end very badly. It wanted to you think, as long as you had Direct TV this would not happen to you. I took this as an example of the Post hoc fallacy.  Weather or not we have Direct TV, has nothing to do with bad things happening to us.

                The next Fallacy is an example of Appeal to authority; it wants us to think that if a doctor is smoking a certain brand of cigarettes then that brand  must not be bad for you. When they are. It does not matter what brand of cigarette it is, they will kill you!

                The last Fallacy is also an example of the Post hoc fallacy; it is a story of how tax day causes more fatal accident then the average day.  It talks about since taxes are due to get out in the mail, more people are rushing around and not paying attention and getting in fatal wrecks that day. I do not see how one thing has to do with the other.  I would think, since post offices are usually located inside the city limits, the speed of a car would not get high enough to just kill anyone who has a fender bender.

Word Count 270

               

RESEARCH PAPER - BRAINSTORMING

MAC DAYS-FISHING FLATHEAD LAKE

·         WHY ARE THEY TRYING TO KILL ALL THE LAKETROUT?

·         WHEN DID THEY START?

·         FUTURE PLANS FOR FLATHEAD LAKE?

·         WHO IS DRIVING THIS PROGRAM?

FAMILY HISTORY “ CARDOZA” NAME

·         WHERE DID IT ORIGINATE FROM?

·         ARE ANY OF THE CARDOZA’S IMPORTANT IN HISTORY?

·         WHAT DOES THE NAME MEAN?

·         HOW AND WHEN DID THEY COME TO THE UNITED STATES?

HISTORY OF EMERGENCY MEDICINE

·         WHEN DID IT START?

·         HOW DID IT START?

·         HOW HAS IT HELPED THE DEVELOPMENT OF MEDICINE IN WAR?

·         WHO STARTED IT?

OBAMA HEALTH CARE PLAN

·         HOW WOULD IT WORK?

·         PROS AND CONS

·         WHO WOULD MANAGE IT?

·         WHAT WOULD IT COVER?

CRABBING IN THE BERING SEA

·         HOW IS IT REGULATED?

·         HOW HAS IT CHANGED?

·         WHY IS IT SO DANGEROUS?

·         WHAT ARE THE LIMITS?

GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

·         WHEN DID IT GET STARTED?

·         WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO UPKEEP IT?

·         HOW DO THEY MANAGE THE ANIMALS AND PEOPLE WHO VISIT?

·         HISTORY OF?

OLYMPICS

·         WHERE DID THEY IDEA COME FROM?

·         WHERE DID THEY GET STARTED?

·         HOW DO THEY DECIDE WHERE TO HAVE IT EVERY YEAR?

·         WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO GET READY FOR ONE?

GRAND CANYON

·         HOW WAS IT CREATED?

·         WHAT DO ALL THE COLORED LAYERS MEAN?

·         WHAT ANIMALS HABITAT THERE?

·         HOW DO THEY MAINTAIN IT?

JOHN STEWART SHOW-FALLACIES

The first fallacy I noticed was the Hasty generalization fallacy. He made the statement that illegal Immigrants are diseased, rapist, drunks that act with immoral behavior.  And, that is not true. He is stereotyping immigrants. We as intelligent people know that disease is not dependent on the race. We as Americans, have disease among us as well.  I am sure that third world countries, such as Mexico, do have more disease in them. Not because of who they are, but because of the lack of medical treatment available to the people. Simply, all races have rapist, drunks and disease.

   The next fallacy I noticed was the Post hoc fallacy.  He wanted us to believe that because we have allowed illegal immigrants in the United States that is why we have had leprosy.  He then followed up with some grafts that showed a study. He wanted us to feel that that the action of letting the immigrants in has then caused the leprosy being brought here.  When actually, the graft he showed, was not from a reputable source or based on actual studies. Once we were given some accurate information that has been investigated by the reputable show Sixty Minutes. We find out that there were only 7000 cases of leprosy in the United States over the last thirty years.  We also found out that out of those cases, they are not sure of how many, or if any were immigrants. When in all actuality, one has nothing to do with the other.

    The last fallacy I noticed was the Appeal to Authority fallacy. Again, the so called expert showed small chopped up clips that showed political icons using some of the same verbage he was using such as immigrants, and leprosy.  He wanted the people to think, that because the reputable politicians were talking about the subject(s) that they are blaming the immigrants for the leprosy. Although, the politicians are not experts on disease or leprosy study, he wanted us to believe them, because of who they are.

http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/management/wolf/population.html

This is one of the Montana Fish and Wildlife sites that show nothing but facts, and results from the research studies, done over the last thirty years, which I think is very important. Research over the last thirty years should give us a nice rounded picture of where we were and where we are at now. This site will show the continued rising numbers of the wolf packs, and where they are located, and how far they travel. It also has a lot of important information on the history of the wolves in Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming. It gives us some good background information on the numbers and locations when they were re-introduced.

http://fwp.mt.gov/fishAndWildlife/management/wolf/game.html

This is another site that is packed full of information and data that has been collected over the past 10 years or so. Although, this site is mainly based on the large game numbers and how the deer and elk population has decreased, as the wolf population has increased. It discusses each individual district in the state .It gives some good numbers that show when the wolves move in the big game numbers go down.  It gives a good idea of the amount of big game the average wolf will consume to survive the winter months.  I think this is a good article, due to the fact that it factors in the other animals that take the big game population down as well. It has a lot about the bear and mountain lion population and http://www.friendsoftheclearwater.org/articles/northern-rockies-gray-wolf-delisting-fact-sheetshows that increased growth as well.

http://www.friendsoftheclearwater.org/articles/northern-rockies-gray-wolf-delisting-fact-sheet

Friends of the Clearwater, is a group that is working towards keeping the wolves on the endangered list.

This group is one of the handfuls of environmental groups that are fighting the federal government for the way the wolves were delisted then relisted then delisted this last time.  They do not feel that the way the wolves were delisted this last time was fair or legal, since the wolves were only delisted in the states of Idaho and Montana but not in Wyoming.  I understand there is a legal battle here, they are fighting for.  What I do not like about this article is that they are name calling. They are calling hunters killers. And they feel that people, who hunt, do so out of anger. I think that that they would get there point across better, if they would stick to the facts.

http://www.defenders.org/programs_and_policy/wildlife_conservation/solutions/wolf_compensation_trust/wolf_predation_and_livestock_losses.php

Defenders of Wildlife are another one of the groups that is working to protect the wolves. I really like the way this group presents there side of it.  They go about it by reporting the facts and showing the research they have collected.  Their position is that wolves are not the only predator that is killing the livestock and big game throughout the state. However they are focused mainly on the livestock portion of the battle. They also give some good information on the wolf species. They educate us on the population, life span, how far they migrate, behavior and the reproduction. Which all is very important, so you can get the full picture, of what you are dealing with.

Wolf Hunting-
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/opinion/column/patricia-randolph-s-madravenspeak-defenseless-wolves-urgently-need-howl-of/article_871e795e-c950-57a3-8085-b4514c0614f9.html

http://www.fourthestatenewspaper.com/mobile/news/prominent-wisconsin-predator-no-longer-protected-1.2770852

WOLF HUNTING

The techniques of each article were kind of the same. Both sites wrote a little about why they should hunt and why they should not hunt, but then as you read more deeply into the article you can tell what side they are really on.  It seems to me everyone is kind of on a fence, or they are worried they might offend someone.  They know there is a problem and they know it needs to be corrected, but they do not want to be cruel to wolves and kill them.  In one site, they feel wolves should be hunted due to the decrease in the elk, beaver, rabbit and deer population.  Also the Ranchers are having trouble with the wolves killing their livestock. The Wolves are migrating closer and closer to civilization and moving closer to the towns.

     Then on the other site, we do not want to be cruel to the wolves and hunt them at night, which is when they are more active, because that would be cruel. These people feel that there should be a better way than hunting or killing them.  They did not seem to voice any ideas on what that would be.  Or bring up the financial aspect of it.

    The tone of the opposing side is kind of sad, and pulling at your heart strings.  They use the cruelty aspect of it a lot, and seem to feel bad for the wolves. I understand that they do not want the wolves to go extinct again.  The other side seems to think it would be better for the conservation of wild life and it would really help the ranchers, so they can survive this outbreak. There tone is sterner, these are the fact and something needs to be done about it.

  I think that the Ranchers and Fish and Wildlife are more convincing then the opposing side.   The reason I feel that way, is because they seem to have more written documentation.  Fish and Wildlife Department have been tracking the numbers and migration movements of deer, beavers, and elk for years. They know that the numbers have been declining for the past few years, and they know that the wolf population has been on the rise for the past few years.  They also know how much the average wolf eats in a month to survive, when you do the math, there is the proof for me. 

word count 405

                                                              Tim O'Brien

    I think that in order to write about war and what they went through in a war zone, they would have to mix some truth and some fiction together.  Not for the sake of the writer, as it is for the reader.  I do not believe the general public can handle the real truth about what a solder has to do, or is instructed to do by our government. And then be judged by the people who sent you over there, for what you had to do to survive.  For a Solder, it is kill or be killed. Their life and survival depends on the guns, bullets, bombs, and death.

   To come home and write about the war and what you experienced over there would be hard.  I think it is a delicate balance of the truth, reality and morals; enough to give the readers somewhat of a glance into combat, but not the full truth. I feel the full truth would disgust the readers.  While I was reading “How to tell a true war story” I felt he wanted to give us more of the truth, and I also felt he needed to get it out, in the public for his own personal mental health. But at the same time, I felt he was trying to protect us from the truth as well.  It must be very hard for a solder to be raised with good moral values as a child, and then be sent away into a war zone as an adult.  To a horrid place they must live each day, to the opposite of the way they were raised.

Word Count 272

         Telling Prompt:
It was a friendly dog

         Showing Example:

The dog, Toeketna was laying on the front porch, waiting for someone to walk up the sidewalk. Along came David, the neighbors boy, who was there to return some mail.  As David turned onto the sidewalk, the dog jumped up and started to wiggling his tail and jump sideways with excitement. David knew the dog wanted to play, so he bent down and grabbed a stick to throw as hard as he could for the dog to retrieve. Toeketna ran, jumping and leaping through the air to get the stick, as though she had to get it before someone or something would beat her to it.  She picked up the stick with her mouth, and ran wagging her tail, with her head held high, all the way back to the boy. Dropping it at Davids feet and ready to go again.

Have you ever 3 of 3

Have you ever had a job you loved? I have and it is the greatest way to spend your time when you are away from your family. My Son was born in 1994, and passed in 1995. For eleven months I sat next to his bed in the NICU unit @ UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento California. There i watched the nurses help there very small, very sick patients. I watched them work long hours and they loved what they were doing. The babies were not there only patients, the families needed them and depended on them just as much. As i watched theses nurses I could tell they loved what they were doing every minute of it. You can tell when someone loves there job and when someone is just doing it to bring home the pay. That's when i decided that someday i wanted to do something i loved and it would be great if i could help people in the process. So in 1995 i turned my heartache into something special that i loved. I signed up to take the EMT program through Shasta College for a semester. I really had no idea what i was getting myself into. I was one of those people who never liked blood and guts.
  Four months later i took the state exam and practical exam, passed with flying colors. I was now ready to find a job.  I drove down to the local ambulance company there in our home town of Willows. At that time it was ran by Mountain EMS. To my surprise they hired me on the spot. They liked the fact that i was fresh out of school. That way i had no bad habits they needed to break me of.
  I remember my first shift. I pulled up to the quarters and went in to introduce myself, i was there no more then 10 minutes and the pager went off. Unit 51 Medical aid Code Blue.That was us. My heart sank in my chest, I got cold sweats and started to tremble. What are the odds, my very first call  and it was a full arrest. I just kind of stood there frozen, when my partner Steve said well lets go, jump in and hold on. I climbed in the unit, put my seat belt on and away we went. Steve hit the siren and the lights. Again my heart started pounding in my chest. The lights were strobbing and the siren was whaling, and we were swerving in and out of traffic. We pulled up on scene and the family ran out to us begging for help. I would of been sad, if i was not so terrified of the unknown. We went inside and the lady was obviously gone, she had been dead for a while. At that point the elderly woman was not our patient her family was. We worked the code until they could accept the death of there Mother. It worked out for me, because i had no idea what to do. My Partner just kept telling me A,B, C's Nichole, just do your A,B,C's. So that's what i did. Airway, checked for breathing and Circulation. Then I started CPR, and I continued CPR until the family was ready for us to stop. When we left the scene, I felt so good inside. Not because we saved the patient, because we did not. But we helped the family through one of the hardest days of there lives and tried to make it more bearable for them to get through. When we left they knew all was done that could be done and they put that into action. 
  As weird as it sounds while we were driving away from that call i had the biggest smile on my face and it stayed there for the next eight years.Everyday when i would get off shift, i would be excited to come back the next day. That job was never boring, never the same old thing. It was the most rewarding feeling i have ever had in a job and I can not wait to find it again some day.

Back home I spent eight years working for Enloe Medical Center as an EMT on one of there 911 responding units. In my spare time I was a volunteer fire fighter for the City of Willows.
  It was a beautiful May day. May 17, 2000 to be exact. I just got off a very busy shift and all I wanted to do was get the girls off to school, so I could crawl into bed for a few hours. And that's what I did, I crawled into bed and put my fire pager on the night stand next to me as usual. I must of drifted off to sleep, because a couple hours later I woke to my fire pager going off for an unknown medical aid.
  We lived at 15 Sunset Dr. and the medical aid came over at 17 Sunset Dr., our neighbors house. About that time I heard a voice, a lady's voice screaming and pounding on my front door. With no time to change  I ran to the door in my red flannel pajamas. My neighbor was screaming and asking for help. Her mentally disabled daughter had locked herself in the bathroom and would not come out. She was in the bathroom screaming it hurt and there was blood everywhere, she thought her insides were coming out.
   I ran over with the Mom, still in my pajamas and got the bathroom door pushed open. I laid the daughter down on the bathroom floor and cut her pants off her so I could take a look. I was so scared, not sure what I was going to find. It took me a minute to figure out what was protruding out. Then I realized it was a baby. A very small premature baby. Not sure how to keep the Grandmother and Daughter calm.And most importantly to keep her from hurting me, her and the baby in such small quarters. I yelled for my husband who was in the living room talking with the Grandmother. I explained to him, what was going on so he could start breaking it to the Parents.
   I stayed in the bathroom and delivered the very small baby girl. The baby was not crying, so I checked her airway and she was not breathing, then I checked for a heart rate. There was no heart rate. At that time I could hear the siren of the Ambulance coming up the street. I picked up the baby in my left arm and started chest compression and rescue breathing. While I was doing compressions I would try to calm the mom. Then I would have to breath another breath into the baby. I could hear the rest of the fire fighters and the on duty Ambulance crew coming in the house, My husband was giving them a quick report. I took the baby out to the LSU and climbed in the back with the Paramedic, Rich Lemon. I continued CPR and rescue breathing as Rich started an IV and put in a breathing tube. The Fire fighters got the mom ready for transport and loaded her up in the LSU. We took off code three to Glenn Medical Center ER. 
   As soon as we pulled into the ER, we took the baby in one room and they took the Mom and Parents into another room.  I stayed with the baby and continued chest compressions. Glenn Medical Center launched the UC Davis Pediatric NICU team on there helicopter. For the next 45 minutes we worked on that baby. We did continued protocol until they landed. I remember hearing them land in the parking lot. I felt so relieved and exhausted. The UC Davis team asked us to stay and continue, while they did what they needed to do. We spent another hour to hour and half working on her.  Then finally we got a heart beat....so I stopped chest compressions and just bagged the baby, which is using a bag valve mask that is hooked to the breathing tube Rich placed, to push little breaths into her lungs.  Once we got a heart rate they wanted to transport the baby. They loaded the baby into the transport unit that locks into the floor of the helicopter.  The NICU nurse took over the bagging and they started there roters and flew off. 
   That quick it was over. Everything had went silent. It went from complete craziness to complete silence.  Later that day I received a call from UC Davis and they said the baby was alive, but not breathing on her own yet. I was just so happy she was alive and the family would have at least a few hours with her, if nothing else. Over the next few days UC Davis would call and give us updates on her. Then she started to get a  little better each day.
  A couple weeks later our neighbor the Grandmother came over and said that they were not aware of the pregnancy and there daughter did not know she was pregnant either. That's when they told me they named the baby after me. They named her Nichole Martell.
   The Mother was extremely mentally retarded and was not able to raise the baby, so they put her up for adoption. Baby Nichole Martell was adopted prior to her leaving UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
   Before we moved the neighbors would bring over pictures of her and give me updates on her growth.
    Baby Nichole Martell was a beautiful baby girl who would never know how she came into this world. But she did come into this world, and she made it.

Have you ever sold your home and moved to a place you have never been? The Ramsey family did. We lived a a small farming town on I-5 in northern California. We had just bought our first home and had put alot of work into it. It was the perfect home for us. We were very happy.
My husband and I were set in our jobs and roles in the community of Glenn County. My husband worked for Burrows Oil as a tanker driver and I worked at North State Title as an Escrow Officer. In our spare time we were volenteers on the City Fire Department, we were also on the Little League board of Trustees and the Safty Officers, and  coatched the girls fast pitch softball team.
Then one day in Feburary of 2004 my husband came home from work and he was so fired up about the state of California. His boss had a couple of ranches, one just out side of town. He had received a letter from the State of California about the ponds on his land. The state had started this new thing, flying over the ranches and checking the ponds. If the ponds were full from the rain water then the ranchers were sent a bill. A bill for catching rain water in the ponds, now that is just obsurb. As we were discussing this we were just imagining how bad it would be in ten years from now. We got to dreaming about living in the great outdoors and doing what we wanted without all the restrictions. We were just discussing and dreaming, thats really all.  The next day David went to work and they were all still fired up about the letter and the all the other thing the state of California was doing.  Mr. Burrows started talking about all the places he has traveled and hunted like Alaska, Montana, Colorado, Idaho and Wyoming. Well that got David thinking and he started to look around on the intranet.  We started to notice the beautiful mountains and rivers and all the out door activity they allow and encourage. We started to look into the local laws and making calls. We looked into things like car licence, dog licence, property tax, sales tax and anything else we could think of. We were still just dreaming. We let it go and went back to our normal lives.
   Then a few months went by and our girls were at my brothers house, and his neighbor lured our oldest daughter Jessica into his apartment  and locked the door. My nephews started to bang on his door and scream to be let in. He took jessica into his room and she had to fight him off  and climb out his window to get away. The short of it is the man tried to rape her and he only spent two days in jail, because she got away. The Police said that since there was not a rape and she got away then they could not do much more. Over the next few monthes, when we were down town at the store or movie theater we would see him. It angered me and upset Jessica.
   Thats when we sat down the girls Jessica, 13 and Jamie 11 and told them about our thoughts and dreams about living in the outdoors. We were shocked when the girls were up for the adventure.
From there it all happened so quick. We had a family meeting with our parents and siblings and let them in on what we were doing. They thought we were crazy, since we have never been to Montana and really was not sure how to pronounce Kalispell.
We put  a for sale sign in the yard, and had a cash buyer in 5 days. We were so shocked it happened so quick. There was no turning back now! We gave our notices at work and closed escrow in two weeks. Packed everything we owned between 3 trailers. Our four wheeler trailer, a 28 foot inclosed cargo trailer and our 5th wheel. I will never forget the day we left Willows. My Mom pulled the 28 foot trailer, I pulled the 18 foot four wheeler trailer and David pulled the 5th wheel. We pulled right out of town with no idea where we were going or what was instore for us. All we knew was we were leaving the only home our children have ever known and our family. We pulled the trailers to Oregon and parked them at my Moms place for the summer as we traveled the US and looked around.We wanted to make sure Kalispell Montana was the perfect place for us. And it was. We are so happy we made the move and have not looked back since.
   

These are my 10 top have you ever:

1)  Had a job you loved?
2) Went to 22 different schools?
3) Won a Contest?
4) Built a home?
5) Saved a life?
6) Lost a child?
7) Sold your home and  moved to a place you have never been?
8) Lived in a 5th wheel for 18 months
9) Traveled the US for 3 months?
10) Become a Mother at 16?

I think that google docs could be very helpful, in the orginazation aspect of things. I work at Kalispell Regional Medical center, as a Surgery Scheduler. Part of my job is taking minutes at meeting. I go to the meetings and take notes on each subject they talk about and the discussion of , and  what they decide to do about it and who will be doing it. After the meeting I write up the minutes and make copies for the OR Charge Nurse and the OR Manager. They then look at the minutes and edit if needed. The document then comes back to me again to make more changes on. It is a long process, it would be much easier if we were all set up on google docs. That way we would all be on the same page all the time.
          The other way google docs could help me is also at work. With the new Surgical Tower being built, I am consistantly making list of new surgical equipment, light, booms, surgical tables, and instruments we will be purchasing for the new OR.  Each week we have a different Rep coming in with there machines for the Surgons to try. The Surgons then fill out an evaluation on the equipment or instruments. I then compile those evaluations into spread sheets. From those spread sheets the OR Manager and the OR Director decide what they plan to order and put in the new OR. My Spread sheets are always being updated and revised. It would be nice if we could all see it, revise it, and view it anytime they want.

I feel like i am lost in this class. I know it will get easier, and i can't wait for that day!