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About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Sept. 24, 1986)
PORTLAND OBSERNER Volume XVI, Number 46 September 24, 1986 25C Candidates For Chair Address Forum . i • by Jerry Garner Gladys McCoy and Glenn Otto, the two candidates for Chairman of Multnomah County Board of Com missioners. addressed a forum at tended by 35 people last Saturday at the Fist AME Zion Church, 109 North Skidmore The forum was sponsored by the Oregon Assembly For Black Affairs The Oregon Assembly For Black Affairs is a non profit, statewide corporation committed to improving the status of Blacks in Oregon It was founded on April 9, 1977, and is registered with the Oregon Cor poration Commission. Although nonpartisan, the organization is po litical and places a maior emphasis on building a better Oregon for the Black community. Each candidate was given 10 mi nutes to address the meeting. Du ring the ten minutes, each candi date was asked, if elected, how she or he will involve Blacks in econo mic development in Multnomah County; address the issues and con ditions of African Americans in Multnomah County; and whether Blacks will be members of her or his immediate staff. Otto said that he believes that one way to reduce the unemployment among African Americans in Mult nomah County is to get them into apprenticeship programs in plumb ing, carpentry, construction, and painting He said it's vital that Black community leaders stress the impor tance of a high school education to Blacks. "In order to be accepted into these programs, one must have a high school education." There fore, he encourages Black commu nity leaders to stress the importance of a high school diploma to Black youths ., : Otto said the county doesn't have an economic development plan and that the community colleges are do mg more in the area of economic development than Multnomah County He said, as county chair, he would work with the colleges in developing a solid economic devel opment program in the county Otto said he is committed to having a staff in his administration that is representative of the county Not only will there be qualified Blacks on my staff, there are other minorities besides Blacks who are out there McCoy said that not only would she support apprenticeship pro grams, she would also make sure those trainees get the opportunity to practice their craft once they graduate " There should be a strong affirmative action program to ensure that African Americans get a fair share of the |obs that are gener t ated.'' McCoy said the county doesn t have |urisdiction over economic de velopment in Northeast Portland. "This is the responsibility of the city of Portland. However, as county chair. I will facilitate the coopéra tion and coordination with the dif ferent governmental bodies to ere ate new businesses throughout all (LI Glenn O tto and IR I Gladys M cC o y, candidates for Chairperson of M u ltn o m a h C ounty Board of C om m issioners, get together fol low ing a forum sponsored by the Oregon A ssem bly For Black A f fairs Calvin Henry (C). O A B A president, joins them . Photo by Richard J B row n areas of Multnomah County " She sa d this can be done by of fenny businesses incentives such as having a trained work force, finan these incentives.' McCoy said. McCoy said she would also focus her attention on small businesses, saying that 85 percent of all new cing, deferred taxes, prepared land, sewers, streets, etc "This is why businesses have been locating in Clark County, because they have <r. r « business is in the small business category. McCoy said Blacks will also be on her immediate staff 140,000 People Killed From Trauma Neglect Dr D onald Trunkay. chairm an of Surgery at the O H S U . w ill speak on "T ra u m a The N eglected Epidem ic" at the first M a rq u a m Hill Lecture on W ednesday. O ctober 1 at 8 00 p m at the O H S U A u d i to rium . A noted traum a a u th ority. Trunkey w ill address the traum a crisis in A m erican and the d evelopm ent of O regon's traum a system Trauma kills more people under the age of 34 in Oregon than heart disease, cancer, AIDS and all other diseases combined Dr Donald Trunkey, chairman of the Department of Surgery at the Ore gon Health Sciences University, will discuss "Trauma The Neglected Epidemic" at 8 p.m. on Wednesday, October 1 at the OHSU Auditorium Trunkey, a nationally recognized trauma authority, says that while the State Legislature has recognized Oregon's trauma epidemic, many people still do not understand the size and complexity of the trauma crisis in this country. Last year, for example, trauma killed 140,000 Americans and per manently disabled at least twice that number Trauma costs the United States more than $200 million a day. Trauma is particularly tragic because its victims often die or are permanently disabled, needlessly Studies have consistently shown that trauma systems save lives Even with this evidence, however, the medical community has not fully em braced the need for a statewide trauma system Many hospitals still be heve they can handle everything," says Trunkey 'Unfortunately, that's just not the case Trauma patients have a higher survival rate when they are treated by specialists who deal with trauma every day According to Trunkey. there are several obstacles to improving the sys tern of trauma care in this country First, more needs to be done with pre vention Trunkey says that about 40 percent o, all trauma cases could be prevented by getting drunk drivers off the road, enacting handgun control legislation, requiring the use of motorcycle helmets and passive or manda tory restraints for automobiles Trunkey says these tough social issues could have a frig impact on the incidence of trauma This is particularly true in the United States where the trauma death rate for teenagers and young adults in about 50 percent higher than in any other western country Another problem is delivery of health care to trauma patients The Port land metropolitan area has addressed part of the problem with the estab lishment of a 911 system Even so, says Trunkey, that's |ust the tip of tho iceberg Trunkey says there should be a hospital that has in house, 24 hours a day, the necessary medical staff to care for critically injured trauma patients Trunkey likens it to the concept of a firehouse "Taxpayers pay to have firefighters available in house, 24 hours a day. to save their proper ty; the same should be true for treating trauma Rehabilitation is another problem Trunkey says that only one out of every 10 critically injured Americans later gets into a rehabilitation program "Of all the people who are currently receiving long term institutional care for injuries, three fourths could be deinstitutionalized at one tenth the cost People who don't go to rehabilitation centers rarely become taxpayers; they become tax receivers.” "People almost accept trauma as part of their lives," Trunkey says "When almost 50,000 American soldiers lost their lives in Vietnam over an 11 year period, the American public was rightly upset and concerned Yot. during that same period, we lost about 530,000 lives in automobile acci dents There was no comparable outrage or concern It’s time for the pub lie to be more informed about the trauma crisis in this country." Trunkey, president elect of the American Association for the Surgery of Trauma, is chairman of the Committee on Trauma for the American College of Surgeons and vice chairman of the American Board of Surgery Before coming to the OHSU in April 1986, Trunkey was instrumental in developing the trauma center at San Francisco General Hospital and served as vice chairman of the Department of Surgery at the University of Califor ma at San Francisco. Trunkey's trauma reserach is primarily directed towards the study of shock, praticularly at the cellular level. He is interested in learning more about how cells and cell functions change following injury Additional stu dies concern resuscitation following shock and the identification of immune deficiencies in the body following shock insult and thermal injury As a consultant in the development of numerous other trauma centers throughout the country. Trunkey works regularly with such agencies and organizations as NASA, the U S Army, the National Academy of Sciences and the American Burn Association. Trunkey has written or collaborated on nearly 70 journal articles. 60 book chapters and five books, including Current Therapy of Trauma 1984 85 and Surgical Clinics of North America: Symposium on Trauma. His work with professional publications includes a role as c -nsulting editor for the Journal of Surgery and editorial board positions with the Archives of Surgery, Surgery and Journal of Pre hospital Care. The lecture by Trunkey is the first of six in the annual Marquam Hill Lee ture Sones All lectures are free and open to the public Ample free parking is available near the OHSU Auditorium For more information about Trunkey's lecture, or the Marquam Hill Lee ture Series, please call 225 8231 4 I '«• • - • '« Carla Davis and A leem Shabazz Photo by Richard J Brow n NEHRC Offers Health Information by Jerry Garner In an effort to provide health ser vice information to citizens living in North Northeast Portland, North east Health Resource Center INHRC) was created "We pro vide referral services such as health counseling, doctor referrals, sen iors' information, and information on pregnancy, venereal diseases, and cancer," said Aleem Abdual Shabazz, President of NEHRC Besides this, NEHRC provides health care information to the pub lie. NEHRC's goal is to establish ari alliance with local agencies, such as the Heart and Kidney Founda tion and the Cancer Society, to gather health information to better serve the community and to form health centers at local schools NEHRC has been in operation since 1985 Besides Shabazz and his administrative assistant Carla Davis, the center is staffed by three volunteers in the hoalth care field Shabazz said there is a need for a grass roots medical information center in the North/Northeast area. "Preventative health care must take presidence over all other types of health care. To precent a disease is much more cost effective to a family than the high cost from a major illness " Ho said funds available for health care throughout the county is de dining as a direct result of the Graham Rudmann Bill, therefore, making it essential that individuals practice preventative health care. NEHRC provides preventative health care information by network ing with local health care agencies. • a < 4 ’ • 4 • • .• ■ « • 4* * * V *« »