Health department offers maternity support, emergency team

The Wahkiakum County Health Department is working to provide service ranging from maternity support services to emergency responses, officials said Tuesday.

Health nurse Lisa Hannah said the First Steps maternity support program is serving 15 clients.

Through the voluntary program, low-income women receive aid with medical bills, transportation to appointments, child birth education, medical care for the newborn, family planning and related services.

The goal of the program is to help the client have a healthy pregnancy, Hannah said.

In some situations, the department will provide aid and case management for infants at higher risk of having problems. It ends when the baby turns one year old.

Hannah and Environmental Health Officer David Briggs also said they have become part of a regional epidemiological response team.

The team includes health department personnel from Wahkiakum, Cowlitz and Clark counties.

They have training and equipment so that they can respond to an emergency in the region within eight hours, Hannah said.

They noted that after a training in late 2007, the team was called to work with an emergency in Cowlitz County.

The team is an aid to a county's health staff, Briggs said.

When Wahkiakum officials had to investigate and respond to an outbreak of a Norwalk type virus two or three years ago, the demands overwhelmed the three health officials, he said.

The emergency response team would be able to step in and assist in the future, he said.