Opinion
4A
Thursday, March 11, 2021
Our View
Legislature
shouldn’t let
program expire
J
essica Barnett died when she was 17.
She had started fainting when she was
12. It looked like a seizure. Her lips would
go blue. She was put on epilepsy medication. The
fainting didn’t stop.
Her grandmother read an article about Long
QT syndrome. The Mayo Clinic defines it as
“a heart rhythm condition that can potentially
cause fast, chaotic heartbeats. These rapid heart-
beats might trigger you to suddenly faint. Some
people with the condition have seizures. In some
severe cases, LQTS can cause sudden death.” The
family thought that’s what Jessica could have. It is
treatable.
They had her tested. One test was positive.
Some at a different clinic were ruled negative. Her
doctors didn’t believe that was what she had.
Jessica fainted again one day. It was a bad epi-
sode. Paramedics couldn’t revive her and she died.
Genetic testing after Jessica was dead confirmed
she had Long QT syndrome.
Her parents wanted answers. They called the
CEO of the hospital to try and arrange a meeting
with her doctors. They were denied, so they
decided to sue.
Her parents gathered up her medical records.
Jessica’s mother discovered the cardiologist never
even looked at one of the tests. It was only sent to
her general practitioner because that was the hospi-
tal’s practice. Other tests were apparently misread.
The family was tested. Her father had it as well,
though showed no symptoms.
A lawsuit was settled out of court. Another 18
months after the lawsuit was settled and five years
after Jessica’s death, the parents finally got to meet
with her doctors. They didn’t know the family had
requested to meet with them. They had not been
told.
“The physicians jaws dropped open. They were
thinking: ‘If we’d actually spoken to this family
we may not have had to go through litigation,’”
Jessica’s mother said. “They were right. All we
ever wanted was to have our questions answered
and know they were making changes so this
wouldn’t happen again.”
The Oregon Patient Safety Commission dis-
cussed this case and cases like it. This case was
from Canada. All those details we provided are
courtesy of the efforts of the Canadian Patient
Safety Institute and Jessica’s family. Where it hap-
pened, though, does not matter so much as what
can be learned from it.
Medical errors and mistakes where patients are
harmed are going to happen.
Oregon actually has a model that allows fami-
lies to get answers when medical errors occur —
outside of a courtroom.
Passed in 2013 by the Oregon Legislature, the
early discussion and resolution system allows for
an open conversation between patients, families
and medical providers when serious harm occurs.
It creates confidentiality protections. Participants
can speak candidly and reconciliation can be found
without an adversarial lawsuit. This can encourage
that improvements are made in patient safety. It
can lower costs in the medical system. And fam-
ilies can get answers. Analysis of the program’s
performance is convincing. You can find more
about it at the Oregon Patient Safety Commission’s
website.
But the program will go away without action by
the Legislature. It is scheduled to sunset on Dec.
23, 2023. Senate Bill 110 introduced at the request
of Gov. Kate Brown and the Oregon Patient Safety
Commission would get rid of the sunset provision.
It was state Sen. Tim Knopp, R-Bend, who moved
the bill be sent to the Senate floor for a vote with a
recommendation that it pass. It should.
The Education Corner
See United States history in the making
SCOTT SMITH
EDUCATOR
O
ver the last several months we
have witnessed history hap-
pening in our country that has
not happened since the Civil War. It is
United States history in the making.
Do you remember your U.S. history
classes? How well do you know the
Constitution and amendments and
what they stand for? Yes, there are
those who do understand really well
and those who think they know them,
and those who really don’t know.
What does the First Amendment
really mean?
In many schools dealing with
remote learning, especially at the ele-
mentary ages, the teaching of social
studies has sadly taken a back seat.
Understanding the schools are doing
their best in these unprecedented
times, now is a great time for all of
us to review what our founders felt
would make us a leading country. The
United States is a network of people
and cultures working together for
the betterment of the world and was
designed 246 years ago knowing the
country would grow and change. Have
we taken it for granted?
We as adults should use this oppor-
tunity to refresh ourselves and bring
our children into the discussion of
what it means to be a United States
citizen. Below are some general ques-
tions along with resources you might
consider when locating and fact-
checking yourself. There are many
ways of using the internet to search
and locate information. Engaging with
your children on this quest will give
them a stronger understanding of just
how to locate and discuss information
about questions that develop during
their life.
Our government is built on three
areas: the Constitution, the Bill of
Rights, and the amendments. Under-
standing them and discussing why
they were written might provide for a
better understanding of just why our
government operates the way it does
along with what our responsibilities
are as United States citizens.
The Constitution: When and where
was it written? Who were the authors?
How many parts are there in the
Constitution?
• kids.britannica.com/kids/article/
constitution/352996
The Bill of Rights: What is the
“Bill of Rights”? Who were the
authors and why? Do they still apply
today? How?
• www.ducksters.com/history/us_
bill_of_rights.php
Amendments: What are constitu-
tional amendments? Who and how
can you make an amendment? How
many amendments are there? You
hear people say, “It’s my First Amend-
ment right.” What does that mean?
• www.ducksters.com/history/us_
constitution_amendments.php
How do the Constitution, the Bill
of Rights, and the amendments impact
our daily lives? Do they really mean
what you assumed they did? What
are some ways you might be able to
support our government? We are a
diverse country made of multiple cul-
tures each having its own perspec-
tive and understanding. Over the last
couple of months has our government
been in jeopardy? These are all ques-
tions we should reflect on as Amer-
icans, United States citizens, and
how these issues could be peacefully
addressed.
———
Scott Smith is a Umatilla County
educator with 40-plus years of
experience. He taught at McNary
Heights Elementary School and then
for Eastern Oregon University in its
teacher education program at
Blue Mountain Community College.
He serves on the Decoding
Dyslexia Oregon board as its
parent/teacher liaison.
tions, in smaller rural communities
like La Grande, radio stations like
KEOL offer an important option: no
corporate sponsorship/influence. They
also are a great training ground for the
radio personalities and journalists of
tomorrow.
Also, KEOL is one of the few
remaining free-form radio stations,
meaning there is no set “playlist” that
DJs must follow. They are the masters
of their own shows, selecting what-
ever they would like to play, under the
guidance of FCC regulations.
Even if 2,500 words were allowed
here, I wouldn’t have enough to cover
what KEOL has meant to so many
over the past 40-plus years. Long live
KEOL!
Rory Noble
Baker City
I certainly agree with her asser-
tions that coverage from The
Observer on this issue would be an
important step in our nation’s efforts
in the direction of combating white
supremacy. In many ways the impor-
tance of our police departments in
confronting implicit bias is paramount
in this struggle. Sheriff Bowen seems
like a progressive person who might
be willing to consider this topic as
part of his commitment to the people
he serves. As Kennnedy suggests,
an interview from him would be an
important service to our community
as well.
In a book study group on “The
Person You Mean to Be (How Good
People Fight Bias)” by Dolly Chugh,
I am learning that it takes “willful
awareness” from all of us to combat
implicit bias. I believe that includes
encouraging our local law enforce-
ment departments in making a point of
being aware of implicit bias that may
exist within their ranks. Inherent bias
lives in all aspects of life, and we all
need to be mindful of where it might
be hiding, no matter where it exists.
Mary Helen Garoutte
La Grande
Letters
Long live radio station
KEOL!
I was saddened by reading that
KEOL at Eastern Oregon Univer-
sity will be defunded for the 2021-22
school year. I am also frustrated with
the lack of understanding of what
being associated with KEOL means to
students.
Being a volunteer at KEOL from
2012 to 2017 allowed me to improve
my verbal communication skills tre-
mendously. I was also editor-in-
chief of The Voice during my senior
year and that too helped me learn
how to communicate better. That’s
what makes KEOL and The Voice
so important to the EOU commu-
nity: communication. Understanding
how to communicate better with one
another is a key element to a suc-
cessful future.
I disagree with Zachary Cahill’s
opinion that radio may become obso-
lete. Low-power community radio
station license applications have
increased over the past several years.
Internet and satellite radio aren’t
going away any time soon, and while
both influence terrestrial radio sta-
It takes willful awareness
to combat racial bias
I would like to add to the com-
ments made by Patricia Kennedy of
Union in her recent letter to the editor
concerning inclusiveness and the
Union County Sheriff’s Office under
Cody Bowen.