vernonia’s
voice community
january
2008
15
Lisa Orth and Jag- A Crisis Response Team
By Scott Laird
Lisa Orth is not your average dog owner. And Jag Orth, Lisa’s Siberian Husky,
is certainly not your average dog. Together Lisa and Jag are a Crisis Response
Team, helping victims of disasters with their emotional needs.
“Crisis Response is a certification above and beyond a therapy dog,” explained
Lisa during a recent interview. “It’s a working dog classification, similar to but
not the same as a service dog.”
Lisa and Jag have been together since Jag was a puppy, for eight and a half years.
She began taking Jag to her son Brandon’s school class, and Jag did well with the
children. “I discovered that Jag had a special gift, an ability to make connections
with people in need. I began to work with him as a therapy dog, and kept giving
him more challenges. He kept rising to the different work we would try. He’s
taken me far more places than I expected because of his gift.”
Lisa and Jag will get called to a variety of situations, from search and rescues, to
helping with sexually assaulted children, to schools that have lost students in a
tragedy. Lisa and Jag also do educational programs in schools. “Jag decides how
he is going to work in any given situation,” explained Lisa. “He has a natural
sense, and does what they need. He is able to make a connection first, which
often allows people to open up and speak. I am just Jag’s transporter.”
Lisa talked about a recent situation that involved a death of a high school stu-
dent. “We worked there for three or four days. The first day we spent in the
safe room, where the students are encouraged to come and seek counseling and
support. After that, Jag just roams the school off leash. He can sense who needs
him. Often the kids who are uncomfortable going in to ask for help will meet Jag
and then be able to open and up and talk about what is happening.”
Search and rescue situations are different. Jag doesn’t actually help with the
search. Instead, Jag works with the families of those missing, giving them emo-
tional support and taking them away from the Incident Command allowing those
involved in the search to speak freely about the situation. Jag will also work with
volunteers and rescue personnel after a search has been completed.
Lisa recently had a new addition to her family. Besides husband Mike, son Bran-
don and dogs Jag and Sasha (an older Siberian Husky), Lisa has newly acquired
three month old Equma. “It means ‘fire’ in Eskimo,” explained Lisa. Equma
arrived from Utah, and will be trained in Search and Rescue by Brandon working
with Vernonia Police Sergeant Mike Kay. Equma will hopefully become Jag’s
replacement on the Crisis Response Team when Jag is ready to retire. “We will
learn about Equma as he grows up and find out what his gifts are, and then work
with him around that. Each dog is different in what they are good at. Some dogs
are great with little children, others better with the elderly. Some dogs are good
service dogs, others better at crisis response.”
Lisa is also working with the Oregon Trail Chapter of the American Red Cross
on a pilot program to certify dogs and their handlers in crisis response. “911
showed the impact of what can happen when there are no guidelines. A lot of
good dogs were pushed to go beyond their abilities during that crisis. The han-
dlers were overworked, and their dogs took on so much of the emotional impact
that many of them were not able to work effectively afterwards.”
Columbia County Rider Provides
Free Shuttle Service to Victims
The Columbia County Rider, the public transportation service provider for our
area, came through in the pinch. Because so many residents were displaced or lost
their vehicles to flood damage, and because of the distant location of the main Red
Cross shelter from flood victim services (1.5 miles outside of town), there became
a need for regular shuttle service in Vernonia during the recovery period.
“We had days that we transported as many as sixty people,” said Henry Heimuller,
the county manager of the system.
The shuttle operated daily from 8:30 a.m. until 7:30 p.m. during the first weeks of
recovery, cutting back service hours as the need dissipated. Service was free of
charge. The shuttle made
regular stops at City Hall
and the Fire Station and
other stops upon request.
Because of the interest in
the shuttle service, Co-
lumbia County Rider is
now looking for ways to
expand service in the Ver-
nonia area in the future,
according to Heimuller.
“The Oregon Trail
Chapter is one of
the top chapters in
the U.S. for num-
bers of people
deployed,
and
have a reputation
for sending out
people who are
trained and edu-
cated, who know
what to do,” said
Lisa. “I am work-
ing to establish
rules, regulations,
and
certifica-
tion standards for
Crisis Response
Teams that will
assess the han-
dler’s ability to
read their dog for
stress, and make sure that their work will benefit all who come in contact with
them. It will be a three day testing process and handlers will be required to re-
certify each year. Having standards is so important for the safety of all involved
especially for the dogs.”
The above article was written before the Flood of 2007. Lisa Orth was instru-
mental in establishing the initial shelters for victims of the disaster, setting up
safe, warm and dry places for displaced persons to rest. Lisa continued to work
tirelessly throughout the first weeks of recovery as the community liaison with
the American Red Cross, and helping make sure the shelter at Cedar Ridge ran
as smoothly as possible. Because of her many responsibilities during the flood
recovery period, Lisa was unable to use Jag in his Crisis Response capacities.
“I took him up to meet the Red Cross personnel, because they had heard about
Jag. But with my own volunteer efforts, I just had too much going on to be able
to work with him around all the people.”
Legacy Clinic Reaches Out
to Flood Ravaged Community
When you walk into Legacy Clinic Northwest you will see a beehive of activity as the
staff care for 150 patients a day. What you may not see at first is the giving nature of
the people behind the name tags, charts and stethoscopes. The staff of fifty, including
doctors, nurses and office personnel gave up their annual holiday party this year and
instead donated the money to the flood victims of Columbia County. “When we saw
the video on the news from the floods in Vernonia and then the mudslide in Clatskanie,
we knew we had to help,” said Stephen Baugh, M.D., site medical director.
Combined with the money the doctors and staff had set aside for the party, they went
on to raise more than a thousand dollars. The money will go to the Columbia County
Flood Victims, a fund set up by the county commissioners to cover any unmet needs
of families and businesses not covered by other sources. Dr. Baugh explained, “We
wanted to know the money would go directly to the people who need it the most.”
Legacy Clinic Northwest offers services in internal medicine, cardiology, pulmonary
medicine and sleep medicine. It is located on the Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital &
Medical Center campus at 1130 NW 22nd Avenue, Suite 220, Portland, Oregon. The
clinic hours are Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. The clinic is currently accept-
ing new patients.
Midway Veterinary
Clinic
Small and Large Animals
Open in Vernonia
Wednesday & Saturday
9 a.m. - 4 p.m.
Call for Appointments
(503) 429-1612
Or 24 hr. Emergency Number (503) 397-6470
805 Bridge Street Vernonia, OR
P A YROLL P L U S L L C
Vernonia, OR
Income Tax Return
Preparation
(Individual & Small
Business)
Payroll Services
Bookkeeping
Edi Sheldon, LTC
503-429-1819