Letters to the Editor: May 25, 2022
Letters to the Editor published in the May 25, 2022 issue of the Tomahawk Leader.
Honoring Oneida County EMS during National EMS Week
NOTE: This letter was submitted on Wednesday, May 18.
Everyone has a day they wish they could re-write, do over, or not remember. This particular day would most likely include receiving bad news, making a regrettable decision or experiencing an accident resulting in bodily harm. What do you do? How do you handle this? Who do you call for help?
Throughout the past decades, the Northwoods community has had access to public safety and emergency medical services (EMS), but does the public really know who these providers are?
Some of our community members have dedicated their personal and professional lives to helping others. This is shown in the form of volunteers but has also grown into full-time paid positions in our community.
In the spirit of National EMS Week (May 15-21), now would be a great time to introduce you to our full-time paid Oneida County EMS providers. Oneida County EMS partners with Lincoln County-Tomahawk and the town of Eagle River to provide advanced life support for our residents. What does that mean?
Our crews consist of two providers that have the training, knowledge, and practical application to respond to 911 emergencies, provide advanced life-saving measures at the scene and facilitate transportation to the most appropriate emergency room for further evaluation and interventions.
Our crews consist of Paramedics, Advanced EMTs, and EMTs with experience ranging from eight months to 30+ years! The amazing men and women on these crews make sure our ambulances are running 24/7 for our residents in the event of an emergency. With the support of the Oneida County Sheriff’s Department, we are supplied with ambulances that are equipped to respond in all weather and road conditions.
When you see our crews at events, please stop by and say hello as we are your full-time EMS service and we’re happy to serve our community!
Jennifer Kimmerling
Supervisor
Oneida County EMS
Personal responsibility has been diminished
Last week, a correspondent expressed his opinion about certain statements made by Mr. Justice Clarence Thomas and his wife. I commend him for expressing his opinion even though I disagree with his
conclusions.
But this correspondence reminds us of one of the most egregious actions in our nation’s history: the leaking of a draft opinion of the Supreme Court. It makes no difference what the leaked draft was about as the leak itself was the egregious act. It was the selfish act of an individual who chose to ignore personal responsibility.
Who among us would appreciate our doctor, lawyer, banker or pastor publicly sharing our confidential information? Not just those folks but any of their employee? It may be argued that the decision under
discussion is extremely important but that does not excuse the violation of personal responsibility.
At this time, it is unknown how SCUSA will eventually decide. It is already apparent personal responsibility has been diminished.
Bernie Lyngdal
Tomahawk
Environmental health registry evaluation for veterans
The VA’s health registry evaluations are free, voluntary medical assessments for veterans who may have been exposed to certain environmental hazards during their military service. The evaluations alert veterans to possible long-term health problems that may be related to exposure to specific environmental hazards.
The VA has established several health registries to track and monitor the health of specific groups of veterans. The registry data helps the VA understand and respond to these health problems more effectively.
The list below is very condensed due to space limitations for this article. You may be eligible to participate in one or more of these health registries:
Agent Orange Registry (www.bit.ly/38FIYEC): Vietnam veterans who served in Vietnam between 1962 and 1975, to include brown water and blue water Navy veterans; Korean veterans who served in or near the Korean Demilitarized Zone between Sept. 1, 1967 and Aug. 31, 1971; Air Force and Army veterans who served on Royal Thai Air Force bases and whose MOS took them near the perimeter of the base between Feb. 28, 1961 and May 7, 1975; veterans who flew or worked on C-123 aircraft between 1969 and 1986; and veterans who may have been exposed to herbicides during a military operation or as a result of testing, transporting, or spraying herbicides for military purposes.
Airborne Hazards/Open Burn Pit Registry (www.bit.ly/3LoeRPC) and Gulf War Registry (those are two separate registries): Eligible veterans include anyone who served in Operations Desert Storm or Desert Shield (ODS), Operation New Dawn (OND), and/or Operation Iraqi Freedom/Enduring Freedom (OIF/OEF). This includes veterans who deployed to countries in the Southwest Asia theater of operations any time after Aug. 2, 1990 or Afghanistan or Djibouti after Sept. 11, 2001. You can also participate in an online registry by going to www.veteran.mobilehealth.va.gov/AHBurnPitRegistry/#page/home.
Ionizing Radiation Registry (www.bit.ly/3wsL6rm): Veterans who were on-site and participated in a test involving the atmospheric detonation of a nuclear device, whether or not the testing nation was the United States; participated in the occupation of Hiroshima or Nagasaki from Aug. 6, 1945-July 1, 1946; was a Prisoner of War in Japan during World War II; received nasopharyngeal (nose and throat) radium irradiation treatments while on active duty; or were involved in “radiation-risk activities.”
Depleted Uranium Follow-Up Program (www.bit.ly/3MqvvPH): Veterans who served on active duty in the Gulf War, Bosnia, Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation New Dawn, or service at Karshi-Khanabad Air Base.
Toxic Embedded Fragment Surveillance Center (www.bit.ly/3MtGJ63): Offers medical surveillance for veterans with embedded fragments as the result of injury received while serving in Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Iraqi Freedom, and Operation New Dawn.
For more information on these registries, contact our office or your VA health care provider. You do not have to be enrolled in the VA health care system to receive these exams if you meet the eligibility requirements.
Tammy Javenkoski, CVSO, and Jason Dailey, Assistant CVSO, can be reached at 715-369-6127 or [email protected]. You can also contact us via Facebook at www.facebook.com/oneidacvso or our webpage, www.co.oneida.wi.us/departments/vs/.
Tammy Javenkoski
Oneida County Veterans Service Officer
Big Government at its worst
Dear Editor,
This is how extreme the Republican Party has become. They support government enforced childbirth, the ability of the state to tell a woman she must complete a pregnancy against her will. The party that claims that it is against big government wants to strip away the right of a woman to control her body, a right she has held for half a century. If the woman and her doctor believe it is best to terminate a pregnancy, the Republican Party wants the state to tell the woman she has no say.
And here in Wisconsin, if the Republican Supreme Court overturns Roe v Wade, pregnant women and their doctor will be subject to a law created by men back in 1849. That’s where the Republican Party wants to take us, even though a strong majority of Wisconsinites favor upholding Roe.
But there’s more. Every Republican candidate seeking to run against Governor Evers insists on state enforced childbirth even in the case of rape and incest.
Let’s say you or your wife or your daughter is raped by someone who is a drug addict and alcoholic. If these candidates have their way, the state will force her against her will to carry that pregnancy to term. That’s Big Government at its worst.
Come November, we need to elect candidates who respect the rights of women and oppose such government intrusion in our private lives. Wisconsinites should not have to suffer from such extreme politics.
Sincerely,
Phyllis Schuit
Hazelhurst