At Washington State University, Kenny Hummel was only a freshman. But Hummel was found in a WSU dorm room last fall, passed out, with his blood-alcohol content at 0.40, five times what is considered legally intoxicated. He died of acute alcohol poisoning. 

At the University of Idaho, Joseph Wiederrick was also only a freshman. But he was found under a small bridge several miles from campus this winter, dead of hypothermia. He’d left a fraternity party at midnight, wandered aimlessly through Moscow for hours, knocking on a few doors, before slipping on a creek bed and soaking his clothes. Toxicology reports indicated alcohol and marijuana in his bloodstream. Read More>>

NEWS  Should parents defuse the “forbidden” and let kids try alcohol in the protected environment of home? In a University of North Carolina study, researchers examined that question. About a quarter of parents of third-grade children in the study said they let their young children taste alcohol in an attempt to keep them from abusing it later on. Forty percent of parents believed that not allowing children to have alcohol would just make them desire it more.  Read More>>

You’ve seen PSAs haranguing you to talk to your kid about drugs and alcohol. But those commercials don’t do a very good job telling you exactly how to talk to your kids.

“You have to have a good relationship with your child,” advises Dr. Adnan Amin of Spokane’s Sacred Heart. That requires learning how to get a teen to talk. Don’t just ask how the day was. (“Fine,” goes the reply.) Instead, ask questions like, “Are there a lot of cliques in your school?” and “How’d your essay turn out?” Text with them regularly. (Contrary to some guides, don’t feel obligated to use dumb TXT abbreviations — that can just seem corny.) Read More>>

NEWS  If alcohol abuse represents the dark side of playing too hard, Adderall represents the dark side of working too hard. A prescription amphetamine prescribed to help kids with ADHD focus on schoolwork, its effects include dramatically increased ability to concentrate for lengthy periods of time. Those effects make it an appealing choice for students struggling with their academic load. Read More>>

A hangar at Felts Field holds many movable hospitals. One helicopter sits fueled up, the pilot and medical crew just a few steps away. Another has its casing removed and a mechanic fiddles with its innards. On the other side of the building, an ambulance just pulled in after transferring a patient from one hospital to another; its driver heads to the break room with a Subway sandwich in his hand. A fixed-wing takes up the most space in the hangar, ready to fly someone in need as far as Seattle.

The communications center sits in the middle of all this, the staff set to scramble at a moment’s notice if a far-flung emergency arises. This is the home of MedStar, the Inland Northwest’s only ambulance service that flies. Read More>>

December 7, 2007 is forever etched into Spokane resident April Bell’s memory. Following months of vague gastrointestinal complaints, that was the day Bell’s doctor finally diagnosed her with cancer. It was also exactly seven months after another important date for the then-30-year-old — her wedding.

Like most young brides, Bell did not foresee testing the ‘in sickness and in health’ vow so early in her marriage. But soon after being diagnosed with follicular non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma — a particularly aggressive form of cancer typically found in patients many decades older — Bell was faced with crippling medical treatments, financial burden and uncertain fertility.  Read More>>

On her last official day before retirement, Dr. Vicki Volz sorted through papers in her office and saw a few patients in the cheerful exam rooms down the hall. After eight years evaluating children with autism and other developmental disorders at Sacred Heart Children’s Hospital, she’d been asked whether the ending was bittersweet. 

It was more sweet than bitter, she said, because she’d seen encouraging progress with a number of patients in her final weeks. “It’s working with the kids that’s the most gratifying.”  Read More>>

NEWS  Think you’ve got a tough job? Jonah Pucci’s winter workdays as one of the two ski patrol captains at Schweitzer Mountain Resort start at 6 am if he’s on avalanche control. Later, his day may be filled with broken arms and legs, head trauma, back injuries and the aftermath of people colliding with the ground, trees and each other. Read More>>

NEWS  Alison Scott is a frequent flyer, but not to anywhere you’d want to visit. In her job as a registered respiratory therapist with Northwest MedStar, Scott took more than 110 flights in two helicopters and a small, fixed wing airplane last year, helping people survive medical emergencies. Read More>>

NEWS  Bill Keeley - Emergency Medical Services Officer, Kootenai County Fire & Rescue, Post Falls, Idaho

Lake and river rescues require Lt. Bill Keeley, 46, to throw himself into miserable situations. When an emergency call sends him rushing to one of the two Kootenai County Fire and Rescue boats, he wears a heavy fire-resistant uniform and life jacket, no matter the weather. Read More>>