Page 11 - Flathead Beacon // 8.5.15

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Two People Killed in Columbia Falls House Fire Cause of two-story fire is still under investigation
banking...
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
Two people were killed in a house fire near Columbia Falls on Aug. 3.
The remains of a 30-year-old woman and a 3-year-old boy were recovered from the scene of a massive house fire on Trumble Creek Road late Monday, according to Columbia Falls Fire Chief Rick Hagen. Authorities have not identi- fied the two victims.
Two other people escaped the fire unharmed.
The fire was reported near the inter- section of Montana Highway 40 and Trumble Creek Road at about 9:22 a.m. By the time firefighters arrived, the two- story home was engulfed in flames. Fire- fighters from Columbia Falls, Whitefish, Bad Rock, West Valley and Evergreen responded to the fire.
The cause of the fire is under Columbia Falls firefighters respond to a structure
What does it mean to you?
investigation.
[email protected]
fire at a residence along Trumble Creek Road near Columbia Falls. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
Fighting Neonatal Alcohol Syndrome with Storytelling Med student seeks stories of those affected in Flathead Valley
BY CLARE MENZEL OF THE BEACON
A mother wakes up in her hospital bed, and the nurses tell her she has had her baby. She does not remember much about it. She does not want to see her child. She wants relief.
She does not get relief; she spends the next few days in bed going through with- drawal from alcohol, methamphetamine, and pain medication. So does her baby. The most recent time the mother had abused these substances was the same night she gave birth.
She met her baby only once, when the nurses showed her how much pain the infant was in. “I made my baby so sick they had to take it away,” she wrote. “I never saw it again.”
The mother submitted this story, anonymously, through Facebook, to Ryan Braunberger, a second-year medi- cal student at the University of Washing- ton who recently completed a rotation at St. Joseph Hospital in Polson.
Braunberger hopes to use this story and others to increase awareness and decrease prevalence of Neonatal Absti- nence Syndrome (NAS) in the Flathead Valley. NAS is an addiction and withdraw syndrome that afflicts newborns have been exposed to narcotics or opiates in utero.
In 2013, 13 percent of mothers in labor at St. Joseph tested positive in a drug screen. Nearly all opioid-exposed infants will display some NAS symptoms, which range from vomiting and fever to sei- zures and birth defects. Babies with NAS are also more likely to suffer from
schizophrenia or bipolar disorder later in life.
“I saw a guy in the [St. Joseph] emer- gency room going through withdrawal,” Braunberger said. “He was in complete agony. The pain was just uncontrollable, insane. To go upstairs and see an infant with those same symptoms.”
He trailed off. That night, the father of two decided he needed to do something. Braunberger set out to assemble a
booklet filled with stories from Flathead Valley mothers who used drugs or alco- hol during their pregnancies, nurses who delivered babies with NAS, and people who were born with the syndrome.
“I think [the story collection will] be powerful,” he said, “especially with the Native American population, because storytelling is a huge way to get through to people and teach lessons. Another cul- ture like that is the Hispanic population, which is growing heavily [in the Valley].”
Braunberger also cited the success of Alcoholics Anonymous’ 12-step pro- gram, which begins with storytelling.
“You stand up and tell your story, at every meeting,” he said. “That’s how you get away from feeling alone. [This project] is about letting them [mothers] know that they’re not alone, and they can get help.”
Braunberger plans to create a group for pregnant women struggling with addiction, and will also include in the booklet a list of phone numbers and ser- vices women can call for support. Once a substance dependency is identified, doc- tors can incorporate substance abuse treatment into the prenatal care plan.
The anonymous mother gave birth
about five years ago. In the wake of los- ing her baby, she felt alone. She became depressed. She continued to struggle with her addiction. And then she got pregnant again.
“That [second pregnancy] is the only thing that helped me get clean,” she wrote. “Drugs just take over your life and all you want is them. It took watch- ing my first baby suffer so bad and not wanting to see that again that helped cleaned me up.”
She is now the mother of a healthy lit- tle girl, who, as the mother writes, “is my whole life now.”
[email protected]
CONTACTS FOR
LOCAL SUPPORT:
St. Joseph Hospital // 406-883-5680
St. Luke Hospital // 406-676-4441
St. Luke Clinic Ronan // 406-676-3600
St. Luke Clinic Polson // 406-883-2555
Tribal Health Polson // 406-883-5541
Lake County Public Health // 406-883-7288
Lake County Chemical Dependency // 406- 883-7310
Flathead Valley CD Clinic // 406-756-6453
SUBMIT YOUR OWN STORIES ABOUT NEO- NATAL ABSTINENCE SYNDROME: https:// www.surveymonkey.com/r/VFXCQBJ
www.ThreeRiversBankMontana.com
AUGUST 5, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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