The Goderich Signal-Star, 1979-09-20, Page 22A:,594!^,
Huron's nurses want you to know about their work
BY JOANNE
BUCHANAN
�'Septem er 24 to 29 has
been eclared Public
H
Nurses' Week in
the province of Ontario
and Huron County's
public health nurses are
busy.trying to promote it.
Many people don't
really know what a public
health nurse is. Some
people h4ve the notion
that the public health
nurse is only a nurse for
the poor. Others have
even expressed some
concern about the public
health nurse being a
"real" nurse at all (this
confusion could exist
f
One upmanship Everyone has done
it at some time or another. Like
everything else it has its time and its
place and if by chance you choose the
wrong time or the wrong place the
reaction you get may be confusing.
Playing one upmanship with me last
week would have been the wrong time.
Several key functions my car is
supposed to perform on a command
from me went sour and as each went
astray I could sense the repair bill was
going up and up.
It all started innocently one morning
when the thermostat on my car heater
broke. It was one of those chilly
mornings and I flipped on the heater to
clear the fog off the windows. I hadn't
used the thing all summer and I sup-
pose it must have been stuck. As I
worked at getting i,Lf ree I heart] a snap
and the control became very loose. A
few rattles later a small plastic pin
dropped to the floor of the car.
Figuring that was going to be a pain I
used my hand to clear the window and
set off for work. On the way things.
started &getting hot inside the car.
Figuring the thermostat must be stuck
open I ignore the rising temperatures
and forge on.
I drive all the way into town and as I
approach the intersection of Elgin and
Victoria the engine stalls. I glance at
the gas guage and discover I have an
energy shortage of my own.
No problem yet. Cheered by whatI
put down as good fortune I coast into
'the gas station to take on more fuel.
When I stop 1 realize my luck just ran
out.
Smoke is billowing out from under
the hood. I've got a king size hole in the
radiator. I quickly jump back in the car
and set off for my favorite fix -it shop.
With a face like a doctor telling me
I've got a ,.year to live the mechanic
tells me the rad has packed up and I'll
need another. He estirriates damages at
$120:
"While your doing the rad can you
take care of a couple of other problems
on the same tab?, I ask foolishly.
I realized after that my question is
much like asking a vacuum cleaner
salesman if I can buy two vacuums
instead of just the one he's trying to sell
me.
What I wanted to know was if it was
possible to handle sone other problems
in the same two hours I would be
paying for my rad work. -
Hoping he understood I rhyme off my
car's problems. Shocks, a tune up, an
oil change and grease job and of course
the thermostat.
The mechanic says he can do the
work but is hesitant to give me a firm
price on the job because the engine
may have been damaged when it
overheated.
I give up. I ask if he can total the bill
for the work heeded and gall me with
the bad news.
The call was bad. To get everything
done but the heater is going to be about
$300.
Then comes the one upmanship.
Lamenting my woes to fellow works me
nets me some unexpected comments.
Some tell me I was crazy to have the
work done by that garage saying I
should have taken the rad to a rad shop.
They say all the garage will do is take it
to that shop, have it repaired and tack
on some money for their trouble.
"But my car was on ' the verge of
blowing up," I whine.
I'm then told of another garage that
will do tune ups and oil changes
cheaper than what I am about to pay.
I'm starting to get my back up. It's
all bad enough Itn getting nicked for
three bills without somebody telling me
I should have shopped for rates.
I end the conversation quickly
suggesting that in my book three bucks
is tdo much to pay so unless you can tell
rile bf a place I can get my repairs done
for that price don't say anything.
r .
jeffT'
Seddon
because the PHNs don't
wear uniforms).
;'During Public Health
Nurses'` Week, we will try
to get it across to people
one more time what we
do," says Huron County
PHN Madelaine Roske.
Most people know at
least one aspect of public
health nursing. They may
know that the nurses go
into the schools to test
pre-schoolers but they
may not know that these
nurses also make home
visits, teach pre -natal
courses, counsel and act
as clinicians.
In a pamphlet put out
by the Ontario Nurses'
Association, the public
health nurse is defined as
a person with two strong
legs and a large purse
who visits schools, people
with problems, old folks
and new babies, listens a
lot and has a great sense
of humor.
The pamphlet, which
will be distributed
throughout the county
during Public Health
Nurses' Week, states: "A
PHN is also able to
assess, advise and
recommend many op-
tions for many problems.
She teaches pre- and post-
natal care, mental health
and child health, and
deals with such things as
family budgets, birth
control, and how to get
along with other people.
And more than likely she
will
get her car stuck in
an out-of-town snowdrift
at least once every
winter."
A PHN wears many
hats. As a home visitor
she can counsel a family
who .may be heading for
trouble, whether it has to
do with money, diet, sex,
drugs or illness.
As a school nurse, one
PHN may be responsible
for two or three
elementary schools and
may possibly be "on call"
for a high school in her
.district. Her role within
the educational setting is
a busy and varied one.
She counsels students
about their stress -re ated
problems such as eck
pain, lack of sleep and
feeling uptight. She may
be called in to diagnose
measles, mumps and
tither communicable
diseases. She may be
asked to do some health
teaching or simply act as
a resource person. She
organizes immunization
clinics in the schools as
well as clinics for vision,
hearing, pre-school
assessments and even
scoliosis (spine cur-
vature) detection.
Although home visiting
and school nursing
comprise a major part of
the PHN's job, there are
additional functions for
which she is' responsible.
There are free family
planning clinics utilized
by both married and
single persons; There is
an obstetricavisiting
program which requires
the PHN to visit the
maternity ' floor of the
hospital and speak with
mothers of newborn
babies (a district nurse is
available to visit once the
mother and baby have
arrived home from
hospital). There are
prenatal classes which
cover nutrition, dental
health during pregnancy,
the
derich
the labor and delivery
processes, bodily and
mental changes during
pregnancy, care of the
newborn in hospital and
at home and feeding and
parenting methods.
As an advisor, the PHN
can tell mothers What
"needles" their children
need and when and where
to get them. Information
.on . immunization
required by adults for
travelling can also be
received from the PHN.
A PHN works pretty
much on her own,
although a lot of her work
is done in concert with
other community ser-
vices like Home Care,
Meals on Wheels and
Family and Children'§
Services. They can work
in hospitals and doctors'
offices too and pass on
observations and
recommendations to
their team back at the
local Health Unit (their
headquarters) about the
need to follow up on a
patient if that patient
heeds services in the
home.
Most of the work- of a
PHN comes from
referrals from other
agencies or retatiZs of an
older person or families
with health problems. A
caseload (each nurse
handles anywhere from
20 to 60 "cases") may
consist of a selection of
people of all ages each
with a unique problem.
As university-trained
Registered 'lurses, PHNs
have.the knowledge and
experience to deal with a
:wide range of problems
that may not be serious
enought to put a person in
hospital but are of great
concern to families and
individuals.
Prevention of illness is
perhaps the major role
played by the public•
health'', nurse, although
this part of the work goes
largely•unnoticed.
The Ontario Nurses'
Turn to page 13A •
I.GNAL STA'
1
132—YEAR 38
Once a piece of metal is heated to a liquid plastic form, it can be shaped
using various methods. It can be placed on an anvil and 'sipped using
various hammers, chisels and punches. Or it can be shaped using an swage
block, a large metal block with various shapes in it, like the one sliown here.
Rings or circles can be made by using a mandrill, a cone shaped piece of
metal around which hot metal can be formed, also shown in this picture.
(Photo by Joanne Buchanan)
This forge, used by blacksmith Jim Wallace, is about 100 year's old. Building
a fire in the forge is an art in itself. The fire must be containedin the centre
of the forge with a fresh supply of coal all around it. The coke, that is the coal
with all the impurities taken out, is used to heat the metal. It is important to
have enough heat but not too much, says Jim. And yes, he gets burned once
in awhile --its one of the hazards of the trade. (Photo by Joanne Buchanan)
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 20, 1979
's forging his
blacksmithing orders in
that part of the country
too.
Jim admits that it takes
a lot of learning by trial
and error to become good
in the art of
blacksmithing.
"The best teacher is
practice and work, work,
work," he says.
While the materials to
work with, are fairly
cheap, blacksmithing is a
very labour-intensive
kind of trade involving
lots .of .. different
operations. •
Take the process in-
volved in making gates
for example. First a
design would be -drawn on
paper, then transferred
to full scale size on a table
with chalk. Using this
design as a guide, the
different metal parts
would be cut and. the
forge work started.
The forge is a heat unit,
kind of like an old
fashioned looking oven,
consisting of a hood,
smoke pipe and blower to
move the air (the blower
is an adaptation of the
original bellows once
Wised). The forge is used
to heat up coal to make a
fire.
There is quite an art to
even making the fire. It
has to be contained in the
centre of ,the forge with a
fresh supply of coal all
around it. Coke, that is
coal with all the im-
purities taken out of it, is
what is finally used as the
source of heat for heating
the metal. It is important
to have enough' heat but
not too much.
Once the metal is
heated to the right heat
(there are different
series of heat), it is
almost like a liquid
plastic and can be shaped
by being, placed on an
anvil and using different
hammers, chisels and
punches. It can also be
shaped by using.a swage
block, a metal block with
various shapes on it or a
Turn to page 2,\ •
BY JOANNE
BUCHANAN
When' people think of
blacksmiths, they
automatically think of
shoeing horses too. But
contrary to this line of
thought, blacksmith Jim
Wallace of R.R. 5
Goderich says, "I've only
shoed one 'horse and I
didn't like it, even though
the horse was quite
gentle."
Jim explains that the
proper name for a person
who shoes horses is a. are sift year apprentice
County because people
are interested in hand
crafted work.
Jim figures that there
are only about three
blacksmiths in the whole
county. Blacksmithing is
a very old craft, one that
could dieout unless it is
taught ,to others. Some
day, after he gets a
market firmly
established, Jim says he
would like to take on an
apprentice and give him
an appreciation for the.
art. In Ger''rnany, there
farrier. A blacksmith, on
the other hand, is a jack
of -all -trades with heat
and metal. He do,es
everything plus shoeing
• horses.
At one time the
blacksmith would make
farm implements, har-
nesses, knives, swords,
metal par.ts for. wagons
like hubs and axles,
armor --the list was en-
dless. - . •
While those types of
things are either uncalled
fornow or easily massed
produced in factories,
there are still other
markets for blacksmiths,
says Jim. There are gates
and railings to be made
and ornamental work to
be done. No factory can
reproduce the elegance of
'hand crafted work.
"Blacksmithing is a -
traditional craft and
there's a real art to it,"
explains Jim.
He just opened up his
own blacksmith shop ,in
Benmiller across from
the general store in
January. At one time,
years ago, there were two
,blacksmith shops in
Benmiller and one of
them was housed in the
very building where Jim
has located his shop.
It took until May to set
up' the shop with
blacksmithing tools, etc.
Since then, Jim says he
has had no , trouble
keeping busy.. He says
there is lots of potential
for his business in Huron
programs for
blacksmiths but there is
nothing like that in North
America.
"You never•get a piece
of paper actually saying
you are a blacksmith like
you can get in other
trades," explains Jim.
Jim picked up ,his in-
terest in blacksmithing
from his father, the late
Dr. J.W. Wallace of
Goderich, who had his
own forge and was very
interested in working
with metal.
"He gave me the im-
petus. He showed me
what could be done. I
learned the basics and
some design from him,"
says Jim.
Since his father was in
his seventies when he
died, Jim .supposes he
was born and raised in 'a
time when there were
'blacksmiths on lot's of
corners:
Jim spent two'years on
the • East Coast and
worked off and on with
three different
blacksmiths. He learned
more skills and"got faster
at his work. He decided
then that he wanted to be
a blacksmith for sure. He
acquired most of his
blacksmithing tools,
including his forge which
is about 100 years old,
while he was in Cape.
Breton. Tliere are a lot of
older blacksmiths in the
eastern part of Canada
and many young people
are starting to do custom
SECOND SECTION
Blacksmith Jim W,_,,gllace shows how to make a decorative twist in a piece of
steel that has been 'heated to a liquid plastic form in a coal forge (shown to
the left). Various tools are used for shaping metal • in the blacksmithing
trade, says Jim who just opened a shop in Benmiller. (Photo by Joanne
Buchanan)
e -