Accidents and Illnesses

Nurses, Doctors and Patients–#5

Published on by Kathy Baker

Bunk Bed/Interior of Cabin“There were some wacky nurses during my time,” remarked one of the counselors (1968-72). “They were either overly attentive and responsible or had short Infirmary hours that let everyone know not to bother them, and there were wacky accidents that occurred while at camp that landed girls in the Infirmary or hospital.”

Kim Wynne-Parry (1963-68) recalled her sister Vicki, who was only six and her accident.“She fell from the top bunk bed when some girl bounced her off onto her head. They came to get me and rushed her to the emergency room in Tawas. I was traumatized and cried and cried and cried. When she got back to camp, they had her in the Infirmary and I would visit her there. I just remember Dorthe Balaskas comforting her and me and feeling very protected.”

Vicki recalled how she ended up in the hospital on the first night of camp. “A somewhat mean-spirited and spoiled girl named Janet—I can still remember her and I think her Dad owned a car dealership in Lansing—bounced me off my bed by kicking me on the top mattress. I just remember “Beanie” (Barbara Haggart) taking me under her wing. She may have even given me one those beanies that put the tongue depressors on it to make a beanie-copter. Everyone worried about me, except me.” (After the incident with the fall from the bunk, Janet became her nemesis and she tried to beat her in every activity she took, but felt like it was her competitive spirit, since she was a good loser.)

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Nurses, Doctors and Patients–#4

Published on by Kathy Baker

302629_4231747144203_154471756_nIn 1967 Mollie Forester was the camp nurse. Dorthe described her as a talker with a kind heart, who was always willing to help out. Her Infirmary was always spotless and there were only two trips to the doctor and one hospital visit on her watch. She had a wonderful rapport with the younger campers, but strained with the older ones, so Dorthe passed out meds to the seniors that summer.

One of her patients was Cindy, who never forgot the orange Mercurochrome, but then who doesn’t remember that little cure-all? Cindy Naylor (1967) turned around in her horseback riding class and the horse raised his leg and kicked her. She still has the dent in her leg.

Zoe McGrath had camped at Maqua as a young girl in the mid fifties, so going back to camp, smelling the campfires and eating “S’Mores” the summer of 1968 was a good bridge between her graduation and her future career as a nurse. It was her first experience as a camp nurse and not only did she fulfill that duty, but she helped out in a kitchen staffing emergency with her director, Dorthe Balaskas. There were a few suggestions from Dorthe to the camp committee for the following summer, and Zoe had the desire to leave her present job and return if she was re-hired.

“One day I was the one that got injured with a concussion on a sailboat,” said Zoe. “They came about quickly and I got whacked in the head with the boom and had to spend the night in Dorthe’s room in the lodge, so they could check me all night.”

Maureen Moore (1968-70) broke a tooth in a water fight when she was working as a kitchen aide. “The girls had their rest period and it was a hot day to do dishes, so we went out with pitchers of water. One of the girls grabbed a metal pitcher and I turned my head just in time to catch it on my teeth. My Mom was horrified when she picked me up because the root was exposed. It was close to the end of session. I don’t know why that girl didn’t grab a plastic one like we did.”

In 1969, Nadine Furlong was listed as the registered nurse, with Dr. Payea still serving as the camp doctor. In her end of season report, she mentioned a staff meeting where she addressed the crushes girls might develop on staff members, as well as notifying some of the staff of the severe ailments they may encounter. (One camper suffered from seizures.)

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Nurses, Doctors and Patients–#3

Published on by Kathy Baker

IMG_6529By1963, the salary for the nurse had increased to $450 for the summer and Lillian Richards R.N. accepted the position. She was forty-five and lived in Harrisville, just north of Hale. It was not always easy to find medical staff to reside at camp for an entire summer, but there was a need that had to be filled, as well as a job–even if the nurse handled only small incidents.

“One not so good memory was when I tripped while walking down one of the hills that had gravel on it, so vehicles could take our trunks and suitcases to the cabins,” said Susan Bradford (1965). “I slid down the hill on my elbows and knees and got skinned up. They had to take me to the hospital in Tawas to get checked out, but I healed quickly.”

Dorthe Balaskas had been hired as director for the camp and wrote in her 1966 report that Dr. Norman Payea had been hired as the camp doctor and practiced in Tawas. “The nurse is the decision maker when a child is ill, as to whether to see the doctor, and makes the appointment and brings the health form,” she wrote.( If the nurse was not in, the camp director or program director took over the Infirmary.)

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Nurses, Doctors and Patients-#2

Published on by Kathy Baker

IMG_6530Lurking in the background during her days at camp in 1945, Carol Requadt recalled the silent fear about water and polio, despite the fact that it was not certain how it was contracted. “Since I was at camp during the days of polio, there was a generalized fear and slight paranoia about catching it. I knew a few who got it, but it was not talked about too much and I was never afraid of catching it as a young girl.”

“There was a girl who did not feel well for three days, and no one knew she was in the early states of polio,” said Carol Sue Abendroth (1953-54). “I heard later in high school that it was what she had, but she survived with only a limp.”

The camp personnel committee was responsible for hiring in 1958 and met on February 27, 1958. Their notes indicated Elizabeth Loessel was hired as the nurse with a salary of $270, plus room and board with a room for Margo and a period of camping for Sandra. (Were they daughters?) Nancy Griebel was hired for the final period.

In 1960 the nurse was a retired public health nurse by the name of Margaret Conley, followed by Janet Gehres in 1961. She was recruited for the camp nurse position by director Alice Bishop, who was taking anatomy classes at Michigan State University with Janet. Although she did not have her Michigan nursing license, the YWCA paid for her to get it, so she could take the position. (She was from Reading. Pa.)

“I went home and got my shorts and stuff ready and headed to camp. I lived in the Infirmary, which was in the middle of camp, and was the only building with a bathroom in it. I was pretty much on duty twenty-four hours a day. There were a lot of girls with allergies that summer and they all brought their bottles along with them, but I don’t recall giving any injections. I think they did that before they got to camp,” said Janet.

Alice Bishop had notes in her director’s report that summer relating to the program presented by the Michigan Tuberculosis Association. They presented a program, complete with songs, about TB for the campers to acquaint them with the disease. Although there was no indication that TB was a scare, public awareness about this disease was important.

Janet Gehres filed her nurse’s report at the end of the first session. She indicated that ninety-one campers came to camp and checked through the Infirmary with pre-camp medical sheets, personal medications collected and all girls weighed in. At the end of the session, they were weighed in again and it was noted; “Many of the girls gained weight, apparently satisfied with the menus offered them.”

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Nurses, Doctors and Patients-#1

Published on by Kathy Baker

Off to camp went the girls, with their injection records up to date, physicals performed and armed with whatever medications they may need for their stay. Although the staff always included medical personnel, there was no way a summer camping session could maintain a clean slate of minor medical maladies, and sometimes even some major ones.

There was always a sick bay of some sort, whether in Dutton or in the new Infirmary and it was always staffed with a health official.As early as June 26, 1935 there was a mention in a news article about medical staff at the camp. The article was partially cut off, but mentioned Dr. Lorna Feng as the camp physician. (The piece noted her interest in art, literature and poetry; her position as an intern at Grace Hospital and that she was one of fifteen children educated abroad.)

Dorothy Bonnen, who camped in 1942, said “Dr. Vail’s wife was our nurse and she volunteered her time at camp with her five year old little boy with her around as she did her job. She used to be the person who inspected the cabins for tidiness.” (It is unclear if her husband was the doctor on call.)

There were also unexpected injuries that demanded immediate attention. “The mouse that Pam Farley hit with a broom during the day came out limping at night and she said ‘poor mouse’ and picked it up,” said Pat O’Tool (1944-52). “It proceeded to bite her and she had to be taken to West Branch to the doctor for a tenanus shot.”IMG_6155

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