At our last meeting of the 2017-18 Rotary year, John MacFarlane offered the invocation and Wally Cole was our song leader. Our only guest was Pepe, back from his youth exchange trip to the east coast. President Steve looked back on the past year, thanking officers and directors and all members of the club for what we do, particularly mentioning Kathy Austvold and Randy Kempfer for their service as secretary and treasurer respectively. He also wished incoming President Lori Larson the best, whom proceeded to present Steve with a Past President's plaque and badge. The club had already sung "For He's a Jolly Good Fellow" to Steve to show its appreciation for the past year.
Katie Johnson led off our brags and fines noting we had 600 Lucky Duck Derby tickets out with members and they all need to be turned in no later than July 11 -- sold. There are 400 more tickets to sell and anyone looking for more can pick them up at Randy Kempfer's office. Hal Leland paid for missing last week's meeting but thoroughly enjoyed his successful fishing trip to Canada with his retired son of two years (the retired, not the son part). Greg Darling commemorated the American Legion, noting that the past weekend there was a 100th anniversary celebration in North Dakota and that he has been in its band for 27 years, out of the band's 94 year existence. Keith Olson apparently graduated with Hal Leland's son as he was wondering why he had not been able to retire two years ago too. He also thanked this writer and Stan Carignan for getting Pepe to and from Fargo for his youth exchange trip. Wally Cole bragged about his trip to Duluth last Wednesday to see President Trump; he made up the missed meeting at Sunrise Rotary where Scott DeBrito was making a presentation; Wally offered to pick up a makeup card for Scott but he said no, it was not needed. This writer asked Pepe if he was more excited about his trip east or Mexico's showing in soccer's World Cup -- he was worried about his team (alas, they lost the day this is being written and were eliminated from competition) and thoroughly enjoyed the trip, which he will tell us more about on July 18th. Randy Kempfer donated for missing the prior week and expressed his appreciation for President Steve's efforts. Bonnie Denzel introduced Krista Larum, a registered nurse with Otter Tail County Public Health, who talked to us about the opioid crisis. The problem has its roots back in the 1980' when hospitals were trying to respond to required exit surveys where patients were asked "did the hospital do everything it could to help with your pain?" and most responses were in the negative. Opioids in fact increase sensitivity to pain and can also actually increase pain over time. Each day in the U.S.A. more than 1000 people are treated in emergency rooms with opioid addiction; 91 die on a daily basis. In 2016 in Minnesota, there were 2,450 overdoses reported and 376 of them were fatal. It is estimated that the crisis has cost us 78.5 billion healthcare dollars. Preventative strategies include the passage of "Steve's Law," which allows Narcan to be dispensed to counter the affects of opioids (first responders now have Narcan available in their vehicles); early education, promotion of "Bring it to the Box," and more restrictive provider guidelines limiting situations when the drug can be dispensed. A network has also been created so a pharmacist can verify a person is not getting multiple prescriptions of the drug. Krista also indicated that Suboxone is a partial antagonist to opioids, aiding in addressing withdrawal symptoms and in November 2017 the FDA approved a monthly injectable form of this drug; it is something they have at the Otter Tail County Jail. If you are concerned about someone who you are concerned may be addicted to an opioid you should contact Julie at Otter Tail County Human Services Intake; a "Rule 25 Assessment" will then be arranged. After her presentation there were comments from Rotarians present that questioned our priorities when Epi Pens are not as accessible as drugs to treat opioid addiction and also wondering why anyone would believe after a medical procedure they won't experience some temporary pain and, well, just deal with it. HAVE A SAFE AND HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY! |
.jpeg)
