Latest / Still Caring / 07: Through a Volunteer’s Eyes: The Heart of Helping

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07: Through a Volunteer’s Eyes: The Heart of Helping · Still Caring

• 0:03
  Abby Fox (Intro): Welcome to the Still Caring Podcast, presented
• 0:05
  by Stillwater Medical.
• 0:07
  Joe Akin (Intro): Here, community is at the heart of healthcare.
• 0:09
  Katon Lunsford (Intro): Through honest conversations and shared experiences
• 0:12
  Abby Fox (Intro): we explore what it means to care for our health—
• 0:14
  Joe Akin (Intro): and each other.
• 0:15
  Katon Lunsford (Intro): Because better health takes a village
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  and you're part of ours.
• 0:19
  Katon (Host): Hi, and welcome.
• 0:20
  My name is Kate Linford and I'm the PR communications specialist
• 0:23
  here at Stillwater Medical.
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  Today we're joined by Lee Bird, a patient advocate volunteer in the ER here at SMC.
• 0:30
  Lee has been volunteering with SMC since 2019, but she brings with
• 0:34
  her a very extensive background in hospital volunteering and
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  knowledge of how to start.
• 0:40
  A volunteer program in the er.
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  So we're very thankful to have Lee in our ER and here in-person on this podcast.
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  So before we jump into everything, Lee, would you like to tell us a
• 0:50
  little bit more about yourself and just your background and your connection
• 0:54
  to Stillwater Medical in the er?
• 0:56
  Lee Bird: Sure.
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  I came here in, 2000.
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  I accepted the job as VP for Student Affairs at Oklahoma State.
• 1:02
  absolutely loved it.
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  Some people think that I got out just before COVID and I had a.
• 1:06
  Psychic warning.
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  I did not, in fact, I was working at the hospital during COVID.
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  But, when I decided to retire in 2019, I just thought this
• 1:16
  was a great place to retire.
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  And, I wasn't sure that I was gonna work at the hospital.
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  I had a little bit different plan for volunteering after I retired and after
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  the homecoming tragedy, I decided I wanna go back to work in a hospital.
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  So that's how I ended up there.
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  Katon (Host): so take us through, you know, for people who don't
• 1:33
  know, which includes me, what does it look like to be an ER volunteer?
• 1:37
  What is that role looking like day to day?
• 1:41
  Lee Bird: Well, every day is different, and I like that because
• 1:43
  every day in my role as VP for student Affairs was terribly different.
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  generally the, there are volunteers that work at the front desk that
• 1:50
  help with getting people in the hospital into the emergency room.
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  And then we have, a much smaller group of volunteers
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  that work in the back of the er.
• 1:59
  they can do both.
• 2:00
  They're trained to do both.
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  But in the back of the er it's really about, patient-centered focus
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  and, they get great care, but you know, it can be a couple of minutes.
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  So if they want a blanket or a family member has a question or they don't
• 2:14
  know where the restroom is, whatever it might be, we can help bridge that gap.
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  And, I think it's honestly very comforting to have people around.
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  and if, they need something or if we can help in some way, we do.
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  So a number of injuries, accidents, uh, illness.
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  it's a wide variety of things we see in the er and, it's
• 2:34
  pretty exciting sometimes.
• 2:36
  Katon (Host): so you had mentioned earlier that you had not thought about going
• 2:40
  back into volunteering with a hospital.
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  What was your first experience volunteering at a hospital like?
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  Lee Bird: Oh.
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  I actually started volunteering at the hospital when I was
• 2:49
  vice president and a VP and vp.
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  For student affairs in St.
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  Cloud, Minnesota.
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  And, I started a program there that had volunteers in the back of
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  the er they had had that before.
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  So I started that program and it worked beautifully.
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  And they actually institutionalized the position after I left.
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  So they, they actually hired somebody to be a patient advocate in the er.
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  Katon (Host): And then, correct me if I'm wrong, but you brought that same
• 3:15
  program over here to Stillwater Medical?
• 3:17
  Lee Bird: Y Yes.
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  And they did have volunteers helping at the front desk, but
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  not in the back of the house.
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  So that's what I asked them to start.
• 3:25
  Yeah.
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  Denise Weber, I took her out to, uh, lunch and told her about the program
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  and told her I'd like to do it and.
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  she thought it was a pretty good idea, but I even volunteered to go get my
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  EMT license again, to make her feel a little bit more comforted that I,
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  could be around it without any problems.
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  So that worked out well?
• 3:43
  Katon (Host): That's awesome.
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  So you're EMT certified and you're also a patient advocate volunteer.
• 3:47
  Lee Bird: Yes.
• 3:48
  Katon (Host): You're a woman of many hats, Lee.
• 3:49
  Lee Bird: Oh yeah.
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  Yeah.
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  Katon (Host): So where does this heart for service come from?
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  You have a long history of volunteering and you're obviously
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  very, passionate about it.
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  Where does this all start?
• 4:00
  Lee Bird: I think it started with my parents.
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  they were always active volunteers in their community.
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  I grew up in Phoenix and they taught first aid, for Boy Scouts, girl Scouts.
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  the church, anybody that would listen.
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  So they were some of the first, red Cross First Aid instructors in Maricopa County.
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  And so I kind of came by it naturally.
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  We did volunteer work with our church.
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  We did volunteer work other places, And that just, it's, it was
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  expected and, I'm glad that I had both of them as as a role model.
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  Katon (Host): So This is a difficult role sometimes.
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  It can't all be all sunshine and rainbows.
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  the ER is very fast paced as we know.
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  what keeps you coming back on the hard days where it's when
• 4:39
  it's just a tough, difficult day?
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  Lee Bird: Well there can be hard days in every profession we do.
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  I mean, there are, I feel, for the nurses And for the docs, we do have
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  patient's that pass away in the er.
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  of people that are, are elderly and, and succumb to their illnesses.
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  I mean, there's, uh, heart attacks, there's a variety of things, but,
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  is gonna be a new day, the next day when you walk in and some of
• 5:00
  the days are harder than other's.
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  but you just get through it.
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  I, I don't take, I try not to take it home.
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  I leave it at the hospital and, And that seems to work well.
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  Katon (Host): kind of going off of that, of you talking
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  about how you leave it at home.
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  What maybe else have you learned from volunteering in the er?
• 5:18
  Lee Bird: I learn something every day.
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  I'll be honest.
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  I learn something every day.
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  and I've learned a lot about emergency medicine being an
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  observer, not a practitioner.
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  you learn about people.
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  I think you learn about your own personal strengths or weaknesses.
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  you learn about how to communicate with people that are under enormous
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  amounts of stress so I think there's lots of lessons Learned every day.
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  Katon (Host): And working with people, This is a position that
• 5:44
  it's primarily patient focused.
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  How has this shaped or maybe changed the way that you interact with
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  people outside of the hospital?
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  Lee Bird: I don't think it, it really has changed how I, operate either inside
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  the hospital or out, but it is kind of.
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  Funny that somebody, you know, I'll see somebody in Walmart if
• 6:01
  it's somebody I know from the university, they'll say, oh, hi Dr.
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  Byrd, blah, blah, blah.
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  If it's somebody from the hospital, they say, did you see how well that healed up?
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  Got the stitches out last Friday.
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  So it's, it is, that's how I kind of know where I know them.
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  But, I don't think it's, I don't think it's changed how I communicate.
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  Katon (Host): I would say that both of your professions that
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  you've done throughout your life are very people focused.
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  did you like go into wanting to, work at the university primarily to get
• 6:30
  to work with students and people?
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  Or did you kind of just happen upon this?
• 6:35
  Lee Bird: kind of happened upon it.
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  I got my master's degree in counseling And the job that I found was at a college,
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  and as soon as I got on the college campus, I knew that that was gonna be.
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  And I, I stayed in higher ed for 42 years.
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  Many different, universities, different types, public, private, large, smaller.
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  but I knew that's where I was supposed to be and I, I loved every minute of it.
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  Well, almost every minute of it.
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  There's been
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  moments.
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  Katon (Host): minutes.
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  Lee Bird: Most of the minutes.
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  Katon (Host): I love that.
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  And so I just was gonna ask you, I know probably a lot of people don't know this,
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  you have spent so much time caring furs in the er, we all know that, but you also
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  have experienced it in a personal way.
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  And so I don't know if you'd be open to sharing a little bit of
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  your story, of your time in the er.
• 7:19
  Lee Bird: Well, I am passionate about Stillwater Medical and
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  part of that passion comes from them saving my life three times.
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  the first one was kind of stupid and, and funny.
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  Now I can say it was kind of funny.
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  It wasn't funny in the moment.
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  I was over at a friend's house and I choked on a grape and it went down and
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  I couldn't, I could breathe through my nose, but you have to remind yourself.
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  You can breathe through your nose and, Was just choking on it.
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  I couldn't get it watered down.
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  I couldn't get anything down.
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  I couldn't get anything up.
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  And I went to the er.
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  I looked online first, like everybody should to see if
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  there was a cure for this.
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  None of them worked.
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  And after about an hour, I went into the ER and they did a little bit of
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  surgery the next morning to remove it.
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  so that was, that was number one.
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  Number two, Was that I was diagnosed with cancer by a, a physician
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  at, Stillwater Medical, Dr.
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  Ford, and he made a referral to the Stevenson Clinic, in Oklahoma City, for
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  the surgery And for the follow-up care.
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  And that was great.
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  And then I had a heart attack, which I didn't expect.
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  Funny part of that was a bird got into my house the night before and
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  I was trying to get that bird outta my house for two and a half hours.
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  So I thought the pain that I had in my shoulder from swinging a fishing,
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  all kinds of equipment, trying to get that bird out, and it took two
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  and a half hours to get the bird out.
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  When I went to bed, I was sore and I, kind of, more on my back,
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  but I had an answer for it.
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  So I knew it wasn't anything, it was just because I was trying to chase the bird
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  out And the next day I went to a board meeting at the hospital and somebody said,
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  you don't, look as chipper as normal.
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  And I said, well, you know, I'm kind of feeling this.
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  Told 'em about the bird left.
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  That meeting went over to see a nurse friend who was just there
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  by chance, and she said, you know, you might be having a heart attack.
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  I said, no, that's, that's crazy.
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  I was just chasing a bird trying to get it out, and I was convinced it wasn't that.
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  she was not working as a nurse that day.
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  And she said, are you stupid?
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  And, I should have just stayed there and been seen.
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  But of course, I drove home, waited about 20 minutes, thought about what
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  Misty had said, and decided I better get my, my carcass back over to the er.
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  I did.
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  They checked me in and about 30 to 45 minutes later I was having surgery.
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  And they did a great job.
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  so I am very loyal to SMC because they have saved my life three times
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  and uh, and I appreciate that.
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  Katon (Host): so?
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  You've worked a lot or you volunteered a lot, you know, on the other side of it.
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  So what's it like being on the other side of care and how does that impact you?
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  Lee Bird: you know, it can be a little bit lonely in a room.
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  I had friends that, that came by and, Checked on me and hung out for a while,
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  but it gets kind of lonely in the room.
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  You get bored with tv.
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  I don't watch, you know, I, it, it just is a little bit boring.
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  So I recognize that, that, part of my job is to go into the room, check and see how
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  people are doing and give 'em some human contact until the nurse is able to come
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  back in or the doc is able to come in.
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  And that was important to me and I, and I think it's important
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  to the patient's that I serve.
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  Katon (Host): I think you've kind of hit a little bit of my next question,
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  which was going to be why are volunteers so important to a hospital?
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  Lee Bird: they bridge the gap in a number of ways.
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  There are so many cool things that our hospital, that, that volunteers can do.
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  they can work in the gift shop, they can help deliver flowers, they
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  can help people navigate the halls.
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  There's just so.
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  Many things that they can do, ER is just one of them.
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  And, it saves a lot of money.
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  Jeff Corbet is the volunteer coordinator for the hospital, works
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  with the foundation, and he, he said that there were, I wrote it down.
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  He said there were, last year, 18,337 hours were performed by volunteers in the
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  hospital, which equates to over $561,000.
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  That's a big saving for the hospital to have bodies there that are
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  trained to do what they need to do.
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  But that's a huge savings.
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  and I think people get something out of it by volunteering, and I think the
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  patient's in the hospital benefit as well.
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  But
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  that's that's pretty cool.
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  Katon (Host): That is really cool.
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  I did not know that.
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  So that's an awesome, awesome thing to know.
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  It's equally beneficial to both, both parties,
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  so I think that's important to
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  remember.
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  Okay, so we've kind of reached the end of our conversation And we like to end each
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  podcast episode with a challenge to care.
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  And so what would be your challenge to care for an individual or just
• 11:43
  for the community as a whole?
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  Lee Bird: I think This is an amazing community.
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  I was attracted to Oklahoma, after the Oklahoma City, bombing
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  And the Oklahoma standard.
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  And I have found that to be true.
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  You know, at the university we had the plane crashes, we've had other crises.
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  so I, I do think that exceptional care and kindness is something
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  that we can all benefit from.
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  And whether it is, turn off social media, get away from the tv, start talking to,
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  to human, to human conversations again.
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  Um.
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  There are so many agencies in this town that benefit from volunteers that
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  you're interested in, almost anything, you can find a volunteer part for that.
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  Habitat for Humanity, elite Repeat, Carmen Corner, wings of Hope.
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  There is something for almost anybody in our community, and I think, I think when
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  you're thinking about other people, you don't spend as much time thinking about
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  yourself or what's going weird or wrong.
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  If you're focused on other's, I think you can live healthier than thinking
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  about whatever's bothering you.
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  So I think that's good, I think it does serve the community.
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  And even if you don't wanna get involved in something, I mean, I
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  serve a lot of hours at the hospital, but even if you don't wanna do that,
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  there are things that people can do.
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  Drive somebody to the, to, uh, a doctor's appointment, mow somebody's
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  lawn, go help 'em with grocery shopping.
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  There are.
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  Thousands and thousands of needs out there.
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  And again, when we quit focusing about just us and, And what we're
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  doing and seeing, I think we can have an impact on the larger community.
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  and it makes us better, and I think it makes our community stronger.
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  Katon (Host): I agree, Lee, thank you for sharing that, and thank you for taking
• 13:28
  time to come on here and share your story.
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  We're very thankful for today and all.
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  All the days that you serve for us because you're just invaluable to SMC.
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  And so that's all that we've got and we're really thankful for you
• 13:39
  guys tuning in to listen and watch.
• 13:40
  So thank you.
• 13:41
  Lee Bird: Thanks everybody.
• 13:42
  Bye-bye.