It feels a bit like we are on the high dive and about to plunge deep into the Summer Season.
Tomorrow is the Field Day kick off for the Give Orcas April’s Grove Edition from Noon – 4 PM at the Orcas Center featuring free food, music, and games. There will be a friendly competition: Minute to Win It at 2:20 with teams from Orcas Fire and Rescue (representing both volunteers and the career paramedics and staff), Orcas Island Coop, Emmanuel Episcopal, Orcas Island Community Church, Windemere, T Williams Realty, the Chamber of Commerce, Orcas Island Realty, and Orcas Island Community Foundation. Each team has donated $1000 which will be matched 1:1 by anonymous donors for the honor of participating in some ridiculous games. Should make for a GREAT spectator sport. Hope to see you there.
Folks have been asking about the issue with medical flight insurance. Here is a link to a good article in this week’s paper. The gist is that if you are insured by Kaiser, it is almost certain that they will initially deny your claim should you be flown off island for medical reasons. If the claim is denied by your insurance company, neither Air Lift NW nor Island Air Ambulance will pay either. Clearly, this presents significant challenges for both patients and providers. When someone presents with symptoms, the Clinics on island and EMS do not have sufficient diagnostic equipment to rule out many life-threatening issues. I suspect we will now see many patients opt to take their chances and head off island on the ferry. Most of the time it will likely be fine (although painful). Hopefully, it will never be fatal. My advice is to keep current on all your vitamins and stay healthy until they figure this out.
OICF will be hosting a walk at Moran State Park at 2 PM on July 17th. Join us to hear about this winter’s wind storm damage, park initiatives, and the activities of the Friends of Moran and Kwiaht. Please RSVP to megan@oicf.us if you want to join us for this walk.
Hope you have a lovely 4th!
Hilary