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About The Blue Mountain eagle. (John Day, Or.) 1972-current | View Entire Issue (July 15, 2020)
A6 NEWS Blue Mountain Eagle Wednesday, July 15, 2020 New dispatcher on the line in Grant County Maynard: ‘This job is truly a blessing’ By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle Christmas morning, kids wake up as excitement fills the air at the chance to open gifts with family — a feel- ing comparable to when Darian Maynard returned to the Grant County dispatch center to begin her work as the new dispatcher. Maynard recently gradu- ated after three weeks at the Oregon Department of Pub- lic Safety Standards and Training where she learned techniques for stress man- agement, civil liability, ethics, criminal law, over- view of fire-rescue and law enforcement operations and more. She also participated in a three-day emergency medi- cal dispatcher course. “This job is truly a bless- ing,” Maynard said. “It’s like a lot of days I can’t wait to be here. Whenever I got back from academy I couldn’t even barely nap for the night shift the other night because it felt like Christmas and I get to go back to work.” The academy taught Maynard the agency she works for is very for- ward thinking in regard to debriefings, mental health care and more. No mat- ter the call, there is a sense of camaraderie and unity as every agency works together to help people call- ing 9-1-1. Maynard said, even when she first started train- ing, she knew she could stay calm in emergency sit- uations because of the sup- port and common goal that everbody has. “Everybody’s common goal is to help people, and that’s really cool,” she said. Maynard said the Grant County Emergency Com- munications Agency did well in preparing her for the three-week endeavor. She said she is grateful the many things she learned from the academy. “Academy was awe- some,” she said. “It was funny, though, because they did such a great job training here (in Grant County) that, The Eagle/Rudy Diaz One of the main reasons Travis Piercy joined the John Day Police Department was to serve the community. Contributed photo/Andrew Martin New Grant County Emergen- cy Communications Agency dispatcher Darian Maynard shows a project that high- lights the different aspects of ethics training she learned from the academy. especially the first week, it felt like a lot of eight-hour review days,” Maynard said. “But later on we had inter- active scenarios, and you’re still pretending to dispatch during a traffic stop, which could go bad.” Maynard especially appreciated the academy’s ethics training, which cov- ered risk factors for first-re- sponders, overconfidence, preference for consistency and more. “There’s always a call for help, but you never know and you really have to put your brain in gear, dissect the sit- uation and ask the right ques- tions,” Maynard said. “You have to check on them, coor- dinate, cover, calm them, connect them and stuff like that.” Maynard said people should know that, when calling 9-1-1, they should always give the address of the emergency first so dis- patchers know where to send help. She said, if some- one is unsure whether to call 9-1-1, dispatchers can verify whether the situation is an emergency. Maynard said she is happy for the opportunity to help the community she is happy to be a part of. Along with dispatch, Maynard is also planning to be a reserve officer for the John Day Police Department. Now that she is back, she can begin her reserve training. The Eagle/Rudy Diaz Darian Maynard is excited to help the community as a Grant County dispatcher. Officer Travis Piercy is glad to serve the community By Rudy Diaz Blue Mountain Eagle Officer Travis Piercy is excited to work in the John Day Police Department and begin serving the community. Piercy has been on the force for over a month and already enjoys the time and opportunity to work with the other mem- bers of the JDPD. Before, Piercy worked at the Grant County Jail for three years. “I always had an interest in law enforcement, but never thought I would end up there,” Piercy said. “The posi- tion at the jail came open, and I took it. I enjoyed it, and I ran with it.” Piercy said the jail experience was helpful, allowing him to become acquainted with frequent offenders. Piercy now has the opportunity to see another side of law enforcement, dealing with crime scenes instead of only seeing what follows an investigation. Piercy decided to transition to JDPD to serve the community. “The whole reason why I stepped on this side was because we got a good community with good people out there,” Piercy said. He wants to be a good officer for the community and somebody that they can trust, he said. One of Piercy’s favorite parts of the job has been the excitement that comes with each day. Piercy said every day is different, and he never knows if he will work with a dog complaint, a traffic vio- lation or serve a warrant. “As soon as that radio goes off, you Free summer lunches for kids return Blue Mountain Eagle The free Summer Food Service Program for kids of all ages started once again July 13. John Day-Canyon City Parks and Recreation District will be serving lunches in John Day, Can- yon City and Prairie City, July 13 to Aug. 21, Mondays through Fri- days, according to a Facebook post from the group. Parks and Rec. will be serving at the Humbolt Elementary par- ent pick-up line from 11:30 a.m. to noon, the Gleason Pool parking lot from 11:30 a.m. to noon and Prai- rie City City Park from 12:30 p.m. to 1 p.m. Unlike past years, though, all lunches and snacks must be picked up and taken off site, according to the Facebook post. “I imagine it will look differ- ent than it has in years past just because of the restrictions around COVID,” board member Lisa Weigum said. Blue Mountain Eagle The Blue Mountain Hos- pital Rehabilitation Services Department has expanded hours for speech therapy. Speech Language Patholo- gist Charissa Moulton is now seeing patients three days per week in John Day, according to a press release. A speech language pathol- ogist is an expert in commu- nication. SLPs work with individuals across the lifes- pan. They treat a variety of communication and swallow- ing problems. These include problems with speech, lan- guage, communication, cog- nition (thinking), feeding and swallowing skills. Speech is how sounds are produced and put together to form words. Problems may include articulation or phono- logical disor- ders, apraxia of speech or dysarthria. Saying “tup” for “cup” is an example Charissa of an articu- Moulton lation or pho- nological disorder. Difficulty producing sounds or slow, slurred speech is dysarthria, and difficulty imitating words or saying the same word mul- tiple different ways, saying “pup, dup, fup, tup” to mean “cup,” is apraxia of speech. Speech problems can also include a voice or fluency dis- order affecting the pitch or quality of one’s voice, such as being hoarse or rhythm prob- lems such as stuttering. Many children will go through a developmental stage of stut- tering around 3 years of age, REMODELS • NEW CONSTRUCTION • POLE BUILDINGS CONCRETE EXCAVATION • SHEET ROCK • SIDING ROOFING • FENCES • DECKS • TELESCOPING FORKLIFT SERVICES S195791-1 Debbie Ausmus 245 South Canyon Blvd. John Day, OR 97845 OPEN WED. & THUR. 9 am - 5 pm 541-575-1113 24 hrs/7 days wk He will bathe in an ADVERTISED TUB, shave with an ADVERTISED RAZOR, have a breakfast of ADVERTISED JUICE, cereal and toast, toasted in an ADVERTISED TOASTER, put on ADVERTISED CLOTHES and glance at his ADVERTISED WATCH. He’ll ride to work in his ADVERTISED CAR, sit at an ADVERTISED DESK and write with an ADVERTISED PEN. Yet this person hesitates to advertise, saying that advertising doesn’t pay. Finally, when his non-advertised business is going under, HE’LL ADVERTISE IT FOR SALE. Then it’s too late. AND THEY SAY ADVERTISING DOESN’T WORK? DON’T MAKE THIS SAME MISTAKE Advertising is an investment, not an expense. Think about it! Blue Mountain Eagle debbie.ausmus@ countryfinancial.com MyEagleNews.com S195793-1 ing foods and liquids are called dysphagia. Choking or coughing when eating or drinking, frequent drooling, refusing to eat or drink cer- tain things, being labeled a picky eater or difficulty tran- sitioning to solid foods as an infant are examples. This often leads to other issues such as poor nutrition or weight loss. Feeding and swallowing problems can begin at birth when an infant is first learn- ing to breastfeed or bot- tle-feed and can affect indi- viduals throughout their lifespan. Moulton is also a certified lactation counselor and pediatric feeding special- ist trained through Feed the Peds. She firmly believes that every individual deserves the right to communicate effec- tively in whatever way possi- ble and that functional feed- ing and swallowing skills play a key role in overall health. For more information, call 541-575-4157. S195790-1 CCB# 106077 A MAN WAKES UP in the morning after sleeping on... an advertised bed, in advertised pajamas. but they should outgrow that stage within six to nine months. Continued stuttering beyond that time may indicate a need for speech therapy. A problem with language may affect what is said to others (expressive language) or what one understands oth- ers to be saying (receptive language). For children, this may be an expressive lan- guage disorder, a receptive language disorder, a liter- acy (reading) disorder or a social-communication dis- order. In an adult, a prob- lem with language is usually called aphasia. Speech therapists also look at how cognitive skills affect communication func- tion. This includes prob- lems with memory, atten- tion, problem solving, organization and other think- ing skills. Examples include forgetting to take medica- tions or frequently missing appointments. Problems with suck- ing, chewing and swallow- S197791-1 (541) 410-0557 • (541) 575-0192 Eagle file photo Children enjoy lunch at the John Day city park near Gleason Pool last year. Blue Mountain Hospital expands speech therapy program TOM CHRISTENSEN CHRISTENSEN TOM CONSTRUCTION don’t know if you’re going east or west, and it’s pretty exciting,” Piercy said. Piercy said the other officers have been supportive. “I’m very lucky to work with the indi- viduals that work here,” Piercy said. “They’re a great group of guys, and they welcomed me with open arms, and I’m getting great training.” Piercy has gone to the academy for corrections, but now he has to go to the academy to become a police offi- cer. COVID-19 has shifted the timeline for that. He does not have an exact date to the academy, but in the meantime, he will receive more training on situational awareness, case law and traffic violations to prepare him for the academy. Piercy said the community is a big rea- son why he is in the JDPD. Don’t get left behind, call today! Kim Kell 541-575-0710 541-523-6377 541-963-6577 541-573-6377 541-576-2160
