SUPREME COURT: TRUMP TRAVEL BAN PARTLY REINSTATED PAGE 5A
DailyAstorian.com // MONDAY, JUNE 26, 2017
144TH YEAR, NO. 257
ONE DOLLAR
New laws help screen mentally ill for suicide
prevent suicide and find treatment.
The new state law is another thread
in the patchwork of care for the men-
tally ill, who often fail to get proper
treatment even when their behavior
escalates into an emergency.
The state requires hospitals that
admit patients for mental health treat-
ment to have a protocol at discharge
to assess suicide risk, the capac-
ity for self-care and the need for
outpatient treatment, along with a
transition plan and a timetable for
Hospitals need
protocol on ER
patient releases
By DERRICK DePLEDGE
The Daily Astorian
Hospitals in Oregon will no longer
be able to release patients who come
into the emergency room in mental
health crisis without taking steps to
follow-up appointments.
But hospitals that do not provide
mental health treatment, like Colum-
bia Memorial Hospital in Astoria and
Providence Seaside Hospital in Sea-
side, were carved out in a compro-
mise to get the mandate through the
state Legislature in 2015.
Hospital administrators had argued
that doctors and nurses were not
equipped to counsel the mentally ill on
top of the stressful, around-the-clock
demands of an emergency room.
“Basically, we didn’t buy that,”
said state Rep. Alissa Keny-Guyer,
D-Portland, one of the chief sponsors
of the new law. “That’s not an accept-
able answer to say, ‘We can’t do it.’
You don’t send somebody home who
had a heart attack and say, ‘Sorry, we
don’t have any help for you.’”
The new law, signed by Gov. Kate
Brown in early June, takes effect this
fall. Erasing the distinction between
how patients in crisis are counseled in
emergency rooms, compared to when
DYNAMIC DUO
FROM THE FRONT LINES TO FIREFIGHTING
they are admitted to a hospital and
discharged, comes as new research
shows that emergency room interven-
tions can significantly reduce suicide
risk.
Hospitals will have to provide
copies of emergency room release
policies to the Oregon Health Author-
ity. The Health Authority will com-
pile the information in a report to the
Legislature in January on the progress
See NEW LAWS, Page 7A
Warrenton
joins fight
against
flood plain
Coalition sues federal
government over policy
By EDWARD STRATTON
The Daily Astorian
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
TJ White, left, adjusts wife Shaunna’s safety equipment prior to a training exercise in Cannon Beach last week.
Military chops
gives couple
adventurous edge
By BRENNA VISSER
The Daily Astorian
C
ANNON BEACH — For some couples,
romance is a dozen red roses and a box of
chocolates.
But for Cannon Beach volunteer firefighter
Shaunna White, romance looks more like driving
a big, red fire truck.
“When he’s sitting in the lieutenant’s seat, and
I’m driving the truck, I mean, that’s the romance
right there,” Shaunna laughed.
The lieutenant next to her is her husband,
TJ White, to whom she’s been married for six
years. The two both serve as volunteers for Can-
non Beach Fire and Rescue, and have done so
together for the past three years.
See DUO, Page 7A
Warrenton has joined a coalition challeng-
ing a federal biological opinion and newly
proposed flood plain rules that some fear
would hinder development.
Oregonians for Floodplain Protection,
which includes several trade groups along
with the city, has filed suit against the U.S.
Department of Commerce, National Marine
Fisheries Service and Federal Emergency
Management Agency in U.S. District Court.
The coalition, which includes the city of War-
renton, argues the biological opinion and
flood plain rules are based on inadequate anal-
ysis, would restrict development and have
bypassed the public rule-making process.
In April 2016, the fisheries service, which
administers the Endangered Species Act,
issued a biological opinion regarding FEMA’s
administration of the National Flood Insur-
ance Program, which provides protection to
260 cities and counties statewide in exchange
for their adopting certain flood plain manage-
ment regulations.
The opinion included a six-part list of rea-
sonable and prudent alternatives to FEMA’s
implementation of the flood insurance pro-
gram to avoid harming endangered species of
salmon, steelhead and southern resident killer
whales, along with their habitat.
The alternatives include interim pro-
tections to limit and mitigate for damage to
salmon-bearing surface waters, new stan-
dards for identifying and mapping flood and
erosion hazard areas, limiting of development
in flood- and erosion-prone areas, using local
governments to help collect and annually
report flood plain development information
and enhanced measures to ensure compliance.
FEMA, in coordination with the state
Department of Land Conservation and Devel-
opment, has started creating and implement-
ing new flood plain development ordinances
based on the biological opinion and recom-
mended alternatives.
Public input
Colin Murphey/The Daily Astorian
Shaunna White, center, along with her husband, TJ, not pictured, pre-
pares to participate in vehicle-extrication training with the Cannon
Beach Fire Department last week.
The coalition claims the implementation
was done without the public input required
by the Administrative Procedure Act. It seeks
an injunction against the fisheries service to
See WARRENTON, Page 7A
At county shelter, Vanderpool is a dog’s best friend
Woman helps
dogs show off
their best sides
W
hen a dog acts and
appears friendly, it is
more likely to be adopted. So
from the moment a new shel-
ter dog’s photograph is taken
to when a new owner takes it
home, an even temperament is
crucial to its adoption prospects.
At the Clatsop County Ani-
mal Shelter, which does not
employ professional trainers,
a volunteer who works more
than 20 hours a week has been
a major contributor to these
efforts.
Ashley Vanderpool works
five days a week at the shelter.
Her mission is to help ensure
the dogs appear approachable
to potential adopters, both in
photographs and when people
visit.
“They have very high stan-
dards,” Vanderpool said.
When a new dog enters
the animal shelter, Vander-
pool sometimes will snap the
intake picture — the headshot
photo commonly included in
adoption fliers, posters, ads
and internet postings. Anyone
who has taken a picture of an
animal knows how difficult it
can be to make them look into
the camera. But volunteers
like Vanderpool have the addi-
tional hurdle of framing the
dog in the friendliest light.
“When I think of intake pic-
tures, it’s pretty much the pic-
ture that gets them adopted,”
she said.
Throughout the country,
intake photos often feature
animals who appear scared,
an issue compounded by an
unsightly background such as
a kennel or white wall.
See VANDERPOOL, Page 7A
Ashley
Vanderpool
with shelter
dog Riley.
Jack Heffernan/
The Daily
Astorian