Thursday, February 4, 2013

Volume 97; Number 32

www.bladepublishing.net staff@bladepublishing.net

A community newspaper serving Browerville, MN and surrounding areas. USPS 067-560

Marie Katterhagen completes second trip to Guatemala as a medical volunteer

The Minnesota Department of Corrections is investigating an altercation at the Stillwater prison that occurred Wednesday, January 30. A correctional officer and a contract food service employee were sent to the hospital as a result of the incident, both were treated and released. Two other employees received minor injuries. The altercation began in the prisons food service area when an offender approached the staff members with a complaint. He then attacked the four staff members without warning. Additional officers were immediately dispatched to the scene and the offender was taken into custody. Additional details about the incident are not available at this time because the Department of Corrections Office of Special Investigations is conducting a criminal investigation of the incident. When the investigation is finished, the Washington County Attorney will decide if criminal charges should be filed against the offender. This incident underscores how dangerous this work can be, said Corrections Commissioner Tom Roy. We have been working very hard to make sure our staff has the training and the tools they need to respond when incidents like this occur.

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Assault on prison staff under

investigation
Roy adds that the number of offender-on-staff assaults has dropped dramatically over the past two years. In 2011, there were 42 offender-on-staff assaults in Minnesotas 10 correctional facilities, in 2011 there were 16 and in 2012 there were 17. Recently, the Department of Corrections started a new training program for employees who work with offenders on a daily basis, called Crisis Intervention Training. The program addresses the challenges of working with offenders who have mental health issues and helps staff recognize and then defuse potentially violent situations before use of force is needed. This training wont stop every assault, but it can help us reduce the need to use force, said Roy. We are committed to making the workplace as safe as we can for our staff.

Marie with three colleagues (left to right, Marie, Rhonda from Dallas, Teresa from St Cloud, and Erin, a University of St Thomas student from St Cloud) By Rin Porter The frigid temperatures of the last several days were stunning contrasts to the tropical climate of central Guatemala, where Marie Katterhagen and 100 other volunteers spent two weeks in January providing medical care and other types of assistance to rural people. Marie traveled with the group HELPS International. She got involved with the group in 2011 through a friend at work. Marie is an R.N. at CentraCare Hospital in Long Prairie, and manages the operating room there. Her friend told her about teams of volunteers, largely from St Cloud and Dallas, Texas, who travel each year to Guatemala to provide medical care, teach about nutrition, install village infrastructure, and offer other forms of outreach to the rural population, mainly native Mayan people. Marie submitted an application online and was contacted in less than an hour. She had the surgical nursing skills that one of the teams needed. Plans were made quickly, and in January 2012 she left on her first trip. HELPS International, organized in 1984, is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit corporation that partners with individuals, businesses, corporations, local and national governments to alleviate poverty in Latin America. HELPS integrated programs include healthcare, education, community and economic development, and agricultural innovations in order to improve the quality of life for the indigenous people of Latin America www.helpsintl.org. The annual volunteer trip Marie and the other volunteers make is expensive and requires sacrifice for many of the participants. Marie has to take two weeks vacation and donate $2,000 to pay for the expenses of her trip, such as airfare, meals, lodging, etc. Some of the volunteers are couples, including several male doctors and their wives; some are medical personnel who bring one or more teenage children who help out in many ways during the journey. About 80 of the 100 or so people on each volunteer trip are medical personnel: doctors, nurses, dentists, etc. The other 20 are cooks, engineers, mechanics, interpreters, maintenance workers, drivers, and Guatemalan army soldiers who guard the volunteers. Continued on page 16. One woman Marie met has been on 18 trips. She is a widow, and when she found herself alone, she decided to use the inheritance she received from her husband to fund her volunteer work. It was her desire to use her time to help others. The experiences also helped her to handle her grief. While at the rural setting of Alta Verapaz where the surgeries and other medical procedures are performed, volunteers stay in dormitories in an abandoned hospital building. All drinking water, food, medical sup-

Browerville Lions Club members served up a traditional Super Bowl Breakfast at the Browerville Community Center on Sunday,. February 3rd. Additional photos on page 16.

WEEKLY WEATHER REPORT

Tue. Feb. 5 Partly Cloudy 22/6 Wed. Feb. 6 Mostly Cloudy 27/16 Thur. Feb. 7 Cloudy 23/15 Fri. Feb. 8 Partly Cloudy 28/21 Sat. Feb. 9 Mostly Cloudy 29/18 Sun. Feb. 10 Partly Cloudy 25/11