By Carole Firstman

Perhaps you’ve heard of him.

He’s Deputy Curtice, Public Information Officer for the Fresno Sheriff’s Department. He’s worn the shield for twenty-eight years. His heroic work as a detective is detailed in a true crime novel, a notorious case that has been the subject of numerous television docu-dramas.

But you might also know him as Chris Curtice, the hunky, blue eyed country-western singer for Chris Curtice and the Wild Horses. His melodic croon makes women swoon and draws fans to their feet. When he takes center stage the aisles are packed and the floor taps with the one-two rhythm of line dancing cowboy boots.

If you haven’t yet had the pleasure, please meet Chris Curtice: Sheriff by day, rising star by night.

Catch the Star

For more than a decade Curtice and his band have played extensively throughout the west coast. They’ve opened for Lee Greenwood, Sawyer Brown, Sara Evans, and Lori Morgan. They’ve jammed with Garth Brooks’ band on a cozy nightclub stage, drawn nods from governors and moved fans to tears. Their fourth CD, “Born to Be Wild,” is currently in studio production, and if you want to see them anytime soon, you’d best get your tickets in advance ‘cause they go fast.

Fresno fans were afforded an unusual treat this summer when the band played at Woodward Park as part of the city’s Concerts in the Park series. The next show won’t be nearly as intimate, but you can catch Chris Curtice and the Wild Horses at the Caruthers Fair in October.

Which Came First?

What an unlikely career combination, law enforcement and entertainment. So how did this peace officer become a country-western star? Or was it the other way around? The road to success has been a long, circuitous one for Curtice, one that started with music, merged with theater, took an unexpected but fortuitous turn to law enforcement, and then circled back to music again.

Born in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Chris Curtice has always loved music, but it wasn’t until much later in life that he discovered his gift for vocals. As a 10-year-old boy in his third-floor bedroom in a St. Louis neighborhood, he’d listen to melodies booming from the house across the driveway, 45-speed records spinning Motown tunes into the nighttime air. At some point young Curtice took up the guitar, and by the time he was a teenager, he was entrenched in the acting scene of high school theater. He a pursued drama as an undergraduate in Monterey, for a time thinking he’d make career in theater arts.

In college, however, Curtice discovered an overriding passion, a call to duty that would change his career path from theater to law. He took a few courses in criminology and justice, and before long he decided that law enforcement was his true professional calling. After earning a degree in criminology at CSU Fresno, he went to work with the Fresno County Sheriff’s department. Following seven years on patrol and thirteen years in homicide, he currently serves as Public Information Officer.

It was during his time as a homicide detective that Curtice, along with his partner John Souza, solved a particularly perplexing triple homicide. His story is the subject of Kraig Hanadel’s novel “Catch Me If You Can: A California Saga of Murder, Greed, and Two Heroic Detectives.”

“It was the Ewell homicide of 1992,” Curtice says, “a triple murder of a mother, father, and daughter.” Curtice and his partner focused their investigation on the family’s sole surviving son, a calculating, cold-blooded college student who stood to inherit his father’s millions. For three years the detectives kept at the case. All the while, the suspect taunted the detectives, daring the police to catch him. “And we did,” Curtice says. “We finally caught him.”

Although Curtice chose to make law enforcement his number one career priority, music always tugged at his heartstrings. Surprisingly, it wasn’t until 1995 that he sang publicly for the first time, at a karaoke night spot one hot July night. He did it on a dare, friends egging him on. “I never had any voice lessons in my life, no vocal training of any kind,” he says. “I’d listen to other people sing, but I was too self-conscious to sing in front of people. But that night I did it.”

The response was so overwhelming and his ability so obvious that he went back another night—and another and another. He eventually entered a talent competition in Las Vegas where he was invited to travel to Nashville and record a CD. In October of 1996 Curtice recorded his first release, “Forever Bound By the Heart.”

And thus the two roads finally merged, a journey that took Curtice full circle. The entertainer had become a sheriff, and now the sheriff could rightfully call himself a singer.

Rounding Up Wild Horses

Fast forward more than a decade, and Curtice’s band is riding high. He credits much of the band’s success to the team with which he works. “I’m really lucky to have full-time pros with me,” Curtice says. Along with Curtice, two other original members, Tony Quinn and Ray Haney, have been the mainstay of the group for the past thirteen years. Depending on the gig, the band ranges in size from four to ten members, but Curtice, Quinn, and Haney are the unwaivering core.

Haney plays bass and is a full-time professional musician who owns a recording studio in the Fresno area. He has a keen ability to direct the group with vocal arrangements. When it comes to composing original material, he’s got a knack for taking Quinn’s ideas and finding a way to make them work with the specific vocal traits of the band. “Performing three-part harmonies takes a tremendous amount of teamwork,” Haney says, “but it’s part of what makes our vocals so strong.”

Lead guitarist Quinn writes many of the songs Wild Horses performs. He’s toured throughout Germany, Spain, and Italy. Quinn lives in the Sacramento area where he also works as a producer in his own recording studio. “I’m sort of the idea man,” Quinn says. “I write the songs, Ray’s got a gifted ear for harmony, and Chris has a stellar voice. In a way, Chris is the vehicle for me to get my songs out there. We’re a team, and that’s why it works.”

It’s the duality of his life that seems to work for Chris Curtice, the ability to pursue more than one kind of dream. “There are different ways to define success,” he says. “I’m not a struggling musician looking for that ‘big break,’ I do this because I love it. Even if I stopped tomorrow, the music I’ve made will be here forever. It’s something I’ll always have.”

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By Jill K. Applegate

The holiday season is approaching fast. To get you into the spooky and spicy spirit, I looked backward and forward to get the scoop on Halloween and Thanksgiving—how we celebrate, how we spread the holiday joy, and how we got the idea in the first place.

Spooky New Year

The early Celts’ calendar believed that on the night before the new year dawned, on Nov. 1, the boundary between the living world and the world of the dead could be crossed more easily. They celebrated the harvest, wore costumes of animal heads and skins, and told each other’s fortunes for the coming year.

Roman to the Core

One of the celebrations that was eventually rolled into Halloween was in honor of Roman goddess of fruit and trees, Pomona. Her symbol is the apple, and History.com suggests that apple-bobbing originated in her honor.

Importing Tradition

In the late 1800s, an immigrant influx to the U.S. helped spread Halloween celebrations. Kids and adults dressed up in costumes and went house to house asking for a treat—food or money. Hanging onto the Celtic fortune-telling tradition, young women believed that on Halloween they could find out their romantic fortunes by doing tricks with yarn, apple parings, or mirrors.

Halloween Doggie Bag

You won’t do your furry monster any favors by trading in the Milk Bones for milk chocolate treats. The American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has a well-timed reminder that chocolate is poisonous to a lot of animals, and tin foil and cellophane candy wrappers can be dangerous if swallowed. And even your brilliant pooch probably hasn’t figured out how to get the wrapper off, yet.

Harvest Bounty

First the tomato, now the pumpkin—yet another vegetable debunked. According to the History Channel, pumpkins are actually fruits. The largest pumpkin pie ever was baked in 2005 and it weighed more than 2,000 lbs. That’ll send you into an epic Thanksgiving nap!

Sending Thanks

Looking for a way to put the giving back into Thanksgiving? If you act quickly, you still have time to get a Thanksgiving care package to a soldier in the Middle East—packages can take a month to reach their destination. Fill up a box with items that remind your soldier of home and the people who love him or her. Include cookies in Thanksgiving shapes and flavors, kids drawings, and even a foam football so he can recreate the family’s traditional Turkey Bowl scrimmage. You could add a little pumpkin pie spice to the box for the aroma of home cooking. Operation Military Pride advises you to be creative, but think about what may melt or leak—and put those items in a zipper plastic back for extra assurance. If you want to make a soldier feel at home, but you don’t have family or friends serving, go to operationmilitarypride.org and the folks there will send you the name and address of an appreciative troop. You’ll also find ideas, restrictions, and mailing tips on the site.

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After a successful year of publishing in Tulare County, we are thrilled to finally introduce Valley Response Magazine to the Fresno audience. Our staff here has devoted the past year to working out the kinks and finding our legs, here on our home turf, but the time has come to make the long-awaited transition into a new market—a place filled with the same civic-minded, hometown-spirited, and family-oriented residents who will recognize the value and purpose of this publication. Our goal is to provide our readers with content that is both positive and educational, and that brings forth a sense of pride for the community.

Earlier this year, our Tulare County edition took home three Gold ADDY awards, presented by the Fresno Advertising Federation, in celebration and recognition of the photography and design elements found within our magazine. I believe that these elements and our unique content, help make our publication truly noteworthy and it is our mission to provide the same level of quality to our Fresno readers from here on out.

In our premiere issue, I wanted to give you articles that convey the true flavor of our publication—compelling stories of the job our subjects do, the advances at the agencies that make our lives more secure, and the surprising lives of those who are dedicated to public safety in the Fresno area.

For the Briefing, we met with members of Fresno Police Department’s Video Policing Unit to find out how FPD is taking preventative measures to help curtail much of the crime on the streets and to stop unlawful acts before they become a more serious offense.

In our Off Duty profile, writer Carole Firstman got together with Fresno’s Deputy Sheriff, Chris Curtice to tell the story of his life as a Public Information Officer for the Sheriff’s Department by day and a passion for taking the stage with his band by night. The tale of Chris Curtice and the Wild Horses is one you definitely don’t want to miss.

Our biggest feature this issue, A Growing Problem, details the multi-agency attack on pot farms sprouting up in the local Sierras. Writer Gary C. Kuncl and photographer David Swann went on a covert mission with the Fresno County Sheriff’s Department to reveal the destruction and danger these illegal drug growers are causing to our beautiful mountain landscapes. It is a behind-the-scenes look into the world of drug growers that you’ve never before seen.

It is my pleasure to bring you this first issue of Valley Response Magazine, Fresno Edition and I look forward to many more issues to come. I hope that you will provide feedback and share your story ideas, as Valley Response Magazine has been specifically designed to tailor itself to the interests of those for whom the magazine is published—you.

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By Craig FauntLeRoy

The man was big. He had a strong square jaw and intelligent blue eyes that burned with a flame born of his heritage. He was the kind of man who could dominate a room with his physical presence and the force of his will. Even at this later stage of life, his massive build spoke of a power that demanded respect. In his younger days he would have been a fearsome adversary or a formidable friend. But on that day, over 30 years ago, he was in serious trouble.

I was driving for American Company out of Fresno. I had several years of emergency medical experience at Fresno Community Hospital’s ER, and had been working at American for a few months. It was back in the pioneer days of paramedic service when paramedics were generally trained and licensed by the county where they worked. Later I would be trained at San Joaquin-Delta College in Stockton, but that day I was the driver for my partner, Tim, who was the paramedic.

The man’s physician had called our company and asked us to transport him to Fresno Community Hospital. Our instructions from the physician were to, “not, I repeat, not, do anything. Just take him to the hospital.” The use of paramedics was in its infancy in Fresno County and some physicians were adamant about us leaving their patients alone.

The man and his wife lived in a small cottage about half an hour west of Fresno and a little north of the rural community of Kerman. When we arrived at his home, there was already a North Central Fire Engine in the front yard. North Central did not have paramedic service in the area then, so the engine captain was glad to see us arrive.

Entering the quaint home was like stepping into another world. Memories from a different place and time draped the walls of the living room: swords, knives, muzzle loading rifles, and old portraits framed in dark wood. There were several people in the dark cool room, some I would never forget, a few I would never know. Each played an important role in the images etched into my memory. The man we were to take to the hospital was sitting in a wide backed velvet chair. I could see tension around his eyes and a firmly set jaw. Even though it was cool in the home, he was sweating like he had just emerged from a sauna. His white T-shirt was soaked. At first I thought the tenseness in his face was set against pain, but I slowly became aware of a hint of something else. His wife was there, and a grandson. The man was talking quietly to his wife in a language I did not recognize. The grandson, who looked to be around 30, informed us his grandfather and grandmother spoke only Russian. The grandson would be our interpreter.

Tim quietly relayed to the grandson that this grandfather needed to go to the hospital. His doctor had called and was already expecting his arrival. The grandson repeated Tim’s message to his grandparents in a respectful tone of voice. The stoic, almost noble looking grandfather nodded and talked quietly with his wife. The grandmother spoke to her grandson, who relayed their wishes, “Grandfather realizes he must go to the hospital, but Grandmother says he wishes to wait for the priest.”

Tim asked the grandson how long it might be and was informed that the priest had already been called and was on his way. Tim looked directly at each of the elderly couple’s eyes and said, “That will be fine.”

I was beside myself with apprehension and nervously said to my partner, “Tim, this guy is in serious trouble. We’ve got to get him to the hospital.” Tim merely replied, “Let’s get his vitals, start him on some oxygen, then get him on the gurney and into the ambulance. The priest will probably be here by then.”

We approached the gentleman to move him to the gurney, but he refused our help. His wife said something to her grandson and looked at us with imploring eyes. The grandson interjected, “She says he must wait for the priest.” The grandfather’s face was resolute. I began to realize the powerful will that I had seen in his eyes earlier. Tim assured the grandson that we only wanted to get him on the gurney and situated in the ambulance so we could leave as soon as the priest had arrived. The grandson relayed Tim’s reply and after a quiet discussion between the man, his wife, and the grandson, we saw the look of agreement on their faces.

The grandfather flatly rejected our help getting onto the ambulance gurney. By force of will he slowly moved from the chair to the gurney. Once seated, his massive frame made our gurney look like a child’s wagon. We put the back of our gurney in a high upright position and started to move him toward the front door. As we started to pass through the home’s threshold he quickly spoke to his wife in Russian. She looked at their grandson and then to us with sad eyes. The grandson said something to her that seemed to reassure her slightly and then reminded us, “Remember your promise to wait for the priest.”

The situation started moving from almost surreal to oppressive. All of my experience and training cried out that we should be getting our patient to the hospital as quickly as possible, but the resolve of the grandfather, grandmother, and grandson had become an iron triangle. It would not bend, it would not break. Moving him out of the gentle shadows of the small cottage into the bright sun, I had to shade my eyes against the intensity of the light. As my vision adjusted, I saw even more clearly the determined set of his jaw and tense manifestation of his will shining from his eyes. Picking him up to put him into the back of our ambulance I sensed more than saw the only flickering of fear I would witness. He spoke firmly to his grandson, who echoed what was more command than request, “You cannot leave until the priest gets here!” Tim assured him that we would not leave. I began to feel more helpless, an observer to events that were moving in a direction that made no medical sense, yet remained beyond my influence.

Once he was in the ambulance my apprehension surged. Tim took one look at me and said simply, “It will be OK.” I did not share his opinion. My medically trained mind shouted to me “We should have been to the hospital by now!”

The captain of the North Central fire engine had remained supportive but in the background. He approached Tim and asked, “Do you need us to stick around?” Tim replied, “Listen, thanks for being here. It does not look like we will need your help, so why don’t you go ahead and get back in service.” The captain nodded and gathered his crew to leave. Remaining, we were souls caught in a world of stark contrasts, shadows and light, past and present, needing action yet frozen by the power of our contrasting demands. Time had become suspended in the tension that remained.

Eventually someone said, “Here is the priest.” I turned and saw an old heap of an automobile pull into the front yard. Emerging from the old car was a middle-aged man with a dark beard, wearing blue jeans and a soft cotton shirt. I was confused; this did not look like any priest I had ever seen. Suddenly the realization came to me: They are Russian Orthodox. Tim was in the back of the ambulance with the elderly man, so I met the priest half way from the car and said, “We really need to get his man to the hospital.” In my voice I tried to reflect the medical seriousness of the situation. The priest merely looked at me and nodded saying, “I got here as quickly as I could.”

Turning to follow the priest I sensed an amazing change in the people in the yard. The grandmother—tense and worried, almost hostile before—was relaxed and gentle. The grandson who had been caught between the two worlds of his grandparents’ wishes and the medical communities’ system, changed in front of my eyes. His shoulders changed from square and rigid to soft and rounded, his arms now hanging loosely at his side.

Walking with the priest to the back of the ambulance I was to encounter an even more remarkable transformation. We had closed the back of the ambulance doors to help keep the inside cool in the afternoon sun. I opened the doors and the priest stepped up on the back bumper. Once again I was awed by the sight of this giant of a man, this chieftain of old, seated in the soft shadows within our ambulance. When I first opened the doors, his expression remained tense; his eyes stern. Then, with the dawning recognition of his priest framed by the bright sunlight, the first hint of a smile rose across the man’s lips. The priest exchanged a few words in Russian with the man and then turned and spoke a few words to the family. When the priest turned again to face the man he had produced a Bible and some sort of shawl he put around his own shoulders. The priest uttered a prayer in Russian, stepped into the shadowed compartment engulfing the man, spoke briefly with him and then returned to the back bumper of the ambulance. He held his hand up toward the man as if blessing him, softly recited another Russian prayer and then walked back to the grandson and grandmother. The grandson looked at me and said, “You may go now, and thank you.”

I turned to shut the doors and saw a different man sitting in our gurney. The eyes that had been tense and willful were now soft and accepting. The jaw was relaxed and at peace. The change, subtle but dramatic, had happened so quickly I had to take pause before I fully comprehended it. The cottage and people, the ambulance and its crew, were all the same individually, yet everything was different. Turning to walk up to the driver’s seat I caught the grandson’s eyes.

“Last rites,” he said, “the priest gave my grandfather his last rites.” The grandmother looked at me with sad, knowing eyes. She would not ride to the hospital with her husband. Pulling out of the yard and looking through the rear view mirror I caught a last glimpse of the small party of people from another world as they turned and slowly walked back into the cottage. I knew beyond all doubt I had been wrong.

We got him to the hospital. I called a nurse I knew the next morning to see how he was. He had died the night before. “There was nothing that could be done,” she said. I knew with certainty she was wrong. Much had been done sitting in the bright sun in the soft shadows in front of a small cottage just north of Kerman.

I would be with many more, both young and old as they made that passage, but my view of our role in that pilgrimage between shadows and light, life and death would never be the same.

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By Aaron Collins

Justin Conner was thirsty, urinating a lot, hungry a lot, tired a lot. His skin seemed drier than normal. He noticed over months, perhaps longer—he couldn’t recall when the symptoms started—that he had been craving sweets, although he had not preferred them much in the past. Because he had no family history of diabetes, he had no context, no ready answer for why he was experiencing such unusual symptoms. And besides, his thoughts were often so fuzzy, and he felt too disoriented to sort it all out. He became somewhat accustomed to feeling not all that well, to feeling light-headed.

Then, one July day after returning to work from a lunch break on his job at a food processing plant, he felt much dizzier than usual, the office began to spin, and he passed out. His coworkers called 911. Fortunately, he was seated at his desk, or a fall from blacking out could have added to his injury.

Conner’s blood glucose had long been soaring out of control, unbeknownst to him. In addition to his hyperglycemia, the explanation for what his body experienced that July day turned out to be a something he had never heard of, but a term that is well known to diabetics and the health care professionals who treat them: Diabetic Ketoacidosis, or DKA. Like nearly 5.7 million other Americans—one in four who have the disease—Conner was an undiagnosed diabetic.

The problem with DKA is that blood sugar gets too high, and the blood becomes too acidic, causing cellular damage. Left unchecked, DKA can lead to coma or death.

The ambulance arrived soon after Conner (whose name is changed to protect his confidentiality) lost consciousness. The acid (ketone) had built up significantly in his bloodstream, which caused his near-fatal close call and led to Conner being diagnosed with type 2 diabetes, in which a person’s cells fail to use insulin properly to transport blood sugar into them for nourishment.

Fortunately Conner’s condition was caught in time.

Once more commonly called adult-onset diabetes, the insulin resistance of type 2 diabetes mellitus afflicts nearly 90% of the 24 million people in the U.S. with diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is far less common, a condition in which the body simply does not produce enough insulin. In addition to Conner’s symptoms, manifestations of hyperglycemia include nausea or vomiting, deep or rapid breathing, and fruity-smelling breath.

According to Dori Louie-Kai, M.S., R.D., C.D.E., program manager with Community Medical Centers’ Diabetes Care Center in Fresno, Conner’s case is all too common. Louie-Kai says the best course is to prevent onset in the first place, well before such emergency treatment becomes necessary. “Most people don’t know the symptoms of diabetes and are in denial that they can prevent diabetes or its complications by changing their lifestyle,” says Louie-Kai. “We must educate the American population that this is a rising epidemic that can be prevented.”

Because onset for type 2 diabetes is gradual, a person may not notice the continual increase in blood glucose over time. Our bodies adjust and we may not feel the change until detectable symptoms of diabetes become evident, so prevention and screening are essential.

Ironically, blood sugar is an essential end product of digestion, typically derived from carbohydrate sources. But the excess glucose experienced by diabetics can quickly turn deadly. That glucose is our fuel source, providing the energy for our body to function. It is stored (as glycogen) in our liver, muscle, and fat tissue—in the liver and muscle as a product that can be converted back into glucose when we skip a meal or are stressed and need fuel, and in our fat tissue so we have adequate stores to break down in case we don’t eat for days.

Louie-Kai says that knowing your diabetes risk is essential to prevention. “This country super sizes everything. Our sedentary lifestyle and fast food restaurants increase our incidence of diabetes. We have many modern conveniences and don’t get regular physical activity,” she says, adding, “People who are overweight, physically inactive, (have a) family history of diabetes, had gestational diabetes during pregnancy, or had a baby weighing nine pounds or greater are at a higher risk factor.” It is not uncommon for someone to have had diabetes for ten years before becoming aware of the condition, often due to these lifestyle factors.

Furthermore, authorities note, symptoms that are evident may be incorrectly explained away. Thirst and hunger are common experiences among non-diabetics and have lots of other explanations. “So do headaches, blurred vision, sexual dysfunction, tingling of the extremities, sores that won’t heal, yeast or bladder infections, and difficulty with concentration,” Louie-Kai points out. Too much or too little caffeine? Advancing age? Adult onset ADD? There are so many ways to dismiss or misdiagnose, if a person notices her diabetes symptoms at all.

Once accurately diagnosed, much of what a diabetic can do to manage the disease is exactly what a healthy person can do to stave off its onset. Here are just a few proactive lifestyle changes you can make—before you must, should diabetes develop:

Consistency with meals and snacks. Eat at a fairly regular time. Do not skip meals and be conscious of the amount you eat with an eye on how much physical activity you plan to undertake.

Daily physical activity. Regular activity and a physical exercise regimen are more important than ever, given how sedentary most of us have become. The more computer and TV hours spent, the less active we are, and that means we are not processing blood glucose efficiently. As that ability decreases, type 2 diabetes can manifest and worsen.

Alcohol intake. As with everything, moderation is the key. Limiting alcohol consumption can stave off the onset of diabetes. But for the diabetic, alcohol is not the best choice to quench thirst. Not only is alcohol a carbohydrate source, mixed drinks are often full of soda, fruit juices, or sweetened mixes. Some diabetes medications cannot be safely taken with alcohol. An alcoholic drink may be taken with a meal on occasion, if planned. However, diabetics should discuss this in advance with their health care provider.

Glucose monitoring. It’s the rare person who is aware of his blood pressure, but even fewer know their blood glucose level. Glucose monitoring offers key information for diabetes prevention. But for diagnosed diabetics, this knowledge is mandatory. Those on diabetes medications or insulin must test glucose levels numerous times throughout the day, typically before and after each meal. Glucose monitoring provides the level at that moment. Unless a person tests frequently they have no idea if their blood glucose is on its way up, down, or is stable. Glucose monitoring allows a person to make the best choices with regards to physical activity and food, and also indicates if or when their health care provider needs to adjust their diabetes medications.

Support groups and walking clubs. The lifestyle shifts for those with diabetes are major, if they are to manage the disease before the myriad related symptoms occur—such as heart, liver, kidney, and eye disease. “For many, the change to healthier habits is unmanageable without the support and camaraderie of others in the same boat,” says Lydia Navarro, who teaches within a program that is sponsored by Visalia’s Kaweah Delta Medical Center Community Outreach Department. Her classes focus on ways to control and live with diabetes. There are groups conducted in both English and Spanish.

The importance of support groups cannot be overestimated, says one participant in attendance at a recent meeting. “If not for this group, I would no longer be living,” she said. The temptation to engage in negative behaviors is too tempting without peer support, she added.

Sick day management plan. While it is important to maintain a positive outlook and plan to remain healthy, it is also necessary to prepare in advance for the illnesses that can result from hyperglycemia. Infections can result from and also be the cause of the hyperglycemia. Diabetics must learn to cope with these and have a plan. Family members, friends, and coworkers can be key to successful management of these health complications in advance of their appearance.

Silent witness. Diabetics should always have some kind of identification on their bodies at all times. An ID bracelet or other wearable emblem (the blue circle on white field is an international symbol of diabetes) will let emergency personnel know and can speak for you should you lose consciousness.

For more information, check out www.diabetes.org, just one among many authoritative sources online. But most importantly, if you have any of the symptoms or have a family history of diabetes, contact your health care provider, or dial 911 if any of the above severe symptoms are evident.

AIDING IN A DIABETIC EMERGENCY

Would you know what to do if someone near you went into a diabetic distress or coma? You should, because millions of people around the world have this disease.

First, remember and recognize the symptoms, because diabetics often become disoriented, irritable, or aggressive and cannot always explain to you what they are experiencing. Look for:

• shallow breathing and rapid pulse,

• cold, sweaty, or pale skin, and

• shaking, staggering, or inarticulate communication.

Second, if you see someone with these symptoms:

• look for the bracelet, pendant, or other indicator that a person has diabetes,

• assess the situation and call for medical help,

• place an unconscious person in the straightened recovery position if she has slumped unconscious in an awkward way,

• monitor pulse and breathing,

• find any diabetes medication that is on the person, or, if he remains conscious at all, ask him if he has medication on hand, and

• if the person is conscious or semi-conscious but too confused to understand what is needed, offer something sweet to eat or drink, because sugar often helps.

If you encounter someone experiencing a diabetic emergency, remembering these steps can save lives.

Infobox: Hypoglycemia:

Hypoglycemia is when blood sugar drops too low, and can be just as problematic as its opposite, hyperglycemia. Symptoms of hypoglycemia include lack of coordination, shakiness or weakness, dizziness, headache, confusion, and double vision. At its worst, hypoglycemia can cause convulsions or loss of consciousness. When in doubt, a trip to the emergency department may be in order.

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By Paul Main

Has it started to cool down enough yet to give the grill a rest? The cool weather, a rainy day, or a good fog cover can tempt me away from cooking outside and send me into the house toward warm-up comfort foods.

This month, I wanted to put a spin on a zesty pan-seared pork chop served with a fall classic, butternut squash risotto. These recipes are easy enough that you’ll be warm and fuzzy and right in your culinary comfort zone. If you’re still in the mood to fire up the grill, the pork chop can just as easily be put on an outside flame.

Butternut Squash Risotto

Frozen butternut squash can be found in the freezer section of most markets.

INGREDIENTS:

12 oz. frozen butternut squash

3 tablespoons butter

1/2 yellow onion, minced

1 1/4 cup Arborio rice

1/2 cup dry white wine

4-5 cups chicken stock

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

2  tablespoons heavy whipping cream

pinch ground white pepper

pinch ground sage

salt and black pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS:

Place the thawed squash puree in a microwave-safe dish and heat for about 3 minutes or until hot.

Pour chicken stock into pot and heat to just below a simmer.

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion. Cook and stir for 2 minutes until the onion begins to soften and becomes translucent, then stir in the rice. Continue cooking and stirring until the rice is glossy from the butter, about 3 minutes.

Pour in the white wine. Stirring constantly, cook over medium-high heat until the wine has evaporated. Stir in half of the squash and 1 cup of the hot chicken stock. Reduce heat to medium and continue stirring until the rice absorbs most of the chicken stock.

Continue adding the chicken stock a cup at a time while stirring. Before finishing, add the remaining squash. Continue stirring until the risotto is creamy looking and the rice plumps up as it absorbs the stock. If the rice remains tough when tasting, add an additional 1/2 cup of stock at a time and cook until the rice has softened.

Finish by stirring in the remaining butter, cream, cheese, white pepper and sage, and salt and pepper the risotto to taste. If risotto becomes starchy (too thick) before serving, stir in some additional stock or warm water to loosen it up. It should be creamy, not chunky.

Serves 4 as an entrée or 6 as a side dish. Garnish with fresh sage leaves.

Southwestern Spice-Rubbed Pork Chops

This recipe can also be used for grilling the pork. The preparation below is for pan searing and finishing in the oven.

INGREDIENTS:

Pork

6 1-1 1/2 inch thick center-cut pork loin chops

Southwestern Style Rub

1 1/2  teaspoons New Mexico-style chili powder

1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder

1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder

1 1/2 teaspoons paprika

1 1/2  teaspoons sugar

1 1/2  teaspoons black pepper

3/4 teaspoon finely ground sea salt

1/2 teaspoon ground cumin

1/8 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper

1/2 cup barbecue sauce (your favorite brand will work)

cooking spray

DIRECTIONS:

Combine first 7 rub ingredients in a small bowl. Rub pork with spice mixture; let stand 15-20 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat a skillet over medium heat on the stovetop. Using cooking spray (away from the flame), coat the skillet well. Put back on fire and adjust heat to medium-high.

Place pork chops in skillet, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Sear on the first side for about 3 minutes. Turn pork and cook another 2 minutes. Set pork chops aside in a baking dish. When all the chops are done, brush each side of the chop with the barbecue sauce and place in oven until they have reached your desired level of doneness, or about 8-12 minutes.

Remove from oven and let stand for 5-7 minutes. Slice and drizzle with pan juice or add additional barbecue sauce to taste.

Makes 6 servings (as long as you don’t share with anyone).

Cooking Safety Tip:

Most of you know to wash your hands when cooking. None of us want our families, friends or co-workers to get sick because we forgot this basic principle. So, before you begin cooking, always wash your hands with soap under warm water for at least 20 seconds (about as long as it takes to sing a kids’ song, like your “ABCs”). Wash your hands often, especially when handling raw meats, fish and poultry.

To learn more about food safety, go to www.foodsafety.gov. Keep safe and keep cooking!

These and other recipes from local first responders are on our web site! Feed your culinary curiosity at www.ValleyResponseMagazine.com

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For our debut in front of the Fresno audience, it was important to us that our cover capture and demonstrate the essence of our publication. For our magazine, devoted to the lives, efforts, and accomplishments of our local heroes, a multi-agency shot was a foregone conclusion. Members of Fresno city’s fire department, police department, and medics from American Ambulance of Fresno showed up in uniform with patience, cooperation, and excitement for the task at hand: creating a scene that exemplifies the collaboration of effort put forth by our public safety officers on a daily basis. Although our scene was staged, these are not actors, folks. They are the real deal—people who seek diligently to protect our streets, our families, and our community as a whole.

Location: A set straight from the likes of an authentic movie production, we met our cover “models” at the Fresno Airport at Fresno Police Department’s Sky Watch headquarters. With the big guns in tow, the fire department showed up with almost every fire engine variation imaginable. As photographer David Swann orchestrated the set up of vehicles, it was as though he was directing a true Hollywood blockbuster. With his strategic placement of the machines in the background, these enormous props elevated the scene to an entirely new level.

Talent (from left to right): Officer Dominic Alvarado; Firefighter Engineer Chris Dow; Firefighter Jeremiah Smith; Captain Oscar Betancourt; EMT Kelly Romine; Paramedic Supervisor Hal Fielding; Officer Mark Gacayan. (In helicopter): Police Pilot Jason M. Serrano; Tactical Flight Officer Skye Liebee.

That’s a Wrap: Although we’d captured the image, the mission to complete our shot was far from over. Photo stylist, and wife of photographer David Swann, Susan Thompson devoted hours of her blood, sweat, and tears during post-production to the completion of the final image that rests on this cover. Without the talent and hard work so graciously provided by David and Susan, our piece of art would never have been possible. We hope you’ll enjoy future covers provided by this team; they are each remarkably talented.

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September 11, 2001, a day we will never forget. A day that shook us to our core. A day that brought us all closer to one another in loss and grief. A day that we expressed a new-found patriotism and a desire to help in any way possible. It was also a day that we learned not to take our men and women in uniform for granted; the ones who fight for liberty and justice for all.

On December 8, 2001, Pelco opened a permanent monument in memory of all of the victims of 9/11, to honor our fallen heroes, as well as a museum that displays hundreds of items donated to Pelco from the FDNY, NYPD, and Port Authority Police Department.

Every year since then, Pelco holds September 11 Observance, where hundreds of Pelco employees, honored guests, and the community can gather together to honor the brave men and women who sacrificed all they had. On Sept. 11, 2009, we attended this memorable event and witnessed the emotional ceremonies at the California Memorial, which included the lowering of the California Memorial flag to half-staff, the placing of a wreath by local fire department and police officials and honored guests, the playing of Taps, and a twenty-one gun salute. When we left we were filled with pride for our country and for our heroes. We will never forget.

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By Bill Corliss

Screeching tires, smashed metal, and broken glass. When you see a car crash it can be upsetting, disorienting, and confusing. It is critical that drivers respond correctly to prevent further damage or injury at the scene of a crash.

Many people don’t know their responsibility. Here’s what to do.

The law requires you to stop. Frequently further collisions occur as more cars approach the initial crash. Avoid a chain reaction crash — if it is safe, move the vehicles out of harm’s way to the side of the road or to a parking lot.

Aid the injured if you are qualified. Do not move an injured person unless he is in danger from fire or another collision. Call 9-1-1 for paramedics and other assistance.

Protect the crash scene and prevent further damage by warning oncoming traffic. Flares or reflectors should be placed at least 300 feet away from the scene for both directions of traffic. Be careful not to put yourself or others in danger while directing traffic or warning oncoming vehicles of the crash.

Call the police if anyone is injured or killed. Once the police arrive, provide accurate facts. Never argue about blame, and never admit blame. Stay at the crash until all information has been recorded.

Cell phone users are encouraged to enter information about who should be contacted in the case of an emergency. Enter the letters ICE — In Case of Emergency — before the names of family members or friends in your cell phone directory. This helps paramedics and doctors contact your family members right away in the event of a crash.

Reporting the crash usually requires exchanging information and making two reports. The law mandates the driver’s license, vehicle registration, and insurance papers must be provided to the police and all others involved in the collision.

In California, a police report must be made within twenty-four hours if there is any injury or death. The DMV also requires a second report from each driver involved in the crash. The police will not make this report. Each driver or her insurance agent must complete California form SR1 within ten days of the crash if any person is injured, no matter how slightly, or if the crash damage is $750 or higher. The SR1 Report of Traffic Accident Occurring in California is available online at dmv.ca.gov.

You must make this report, whether or not you caused the accident and even if the accident occurred on private property.

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By Aaron Collins

Jerry Starkey was on the job when he received the kind of word that chills the blood of any parent: His son, while riding his bicycle, had been hit by a car. The bad news grew more nerve-wracking when he was not informed of his boy’s condition, only told that a crew was en route to relieve him from duty.

“Of course I thought the worst,” Starkey says. Thing is, he had seen it all—from the merely bad, to the unspeakably bad. He’s a paramedic.

When he was notified about his son, he was in the middle of loading a patient—who was in serious respiratory distress—into an ambulance for stat transport. His son’s mishap had occurred within Starkey’s service area. But the paramedic’s dilemma may have been much easier for him to handle than a father’s torment—he was required to stay with the patient without knowing his son’s fate. These are the tough calls that professionals must be prepared to make.

“I knew I needed to trust the other crews and deal with my patient now. We began transport and just before I arrived at the hospital I received another page that my son only had a broken leg and was doing fine. At that point my patient was improving and as we turned the corner into the emergency department, I lost it. It took me a couple of seconds to get my head back into the game,” Starkey recalls.

His ability to function under pressure and in these kinds of complex circumstances illustrates his perfect fit for the job. “I enjoy pressure. I looked forward to the more difficult calls that took more thought and skills to work on my patient,” Starkey says, adding, “I relish the idea of running a mass causality event. Not that I want people injured, but if they are going to do it, do it on my shift and in my zone.”

That temperament and depth of experience also make Starkey especially qualified to teach the difficult aspects to those entering a profession that is fraught with them. What to do after a automobile pile-up when a father is standing over his beloved child who is gravely injured and, medically speaking, beyond hope, while others injured stand a chance at survival? Starkey once had to make that tough call, too, which he describes as one of the most harrowing moments in his career. Managing the human emotions of the father while tending to those in dire but survivable condition posed one of the greatest challenges that he has faced.

Being a father himself certainly means he brings that role to the table whenever parents and children are involved. “We see the best and the worst of society. We have to understand that we do not put our patients into those positions they find themselves in. However, we are there to give them the last best chance of a positive outcome,” he observes.

But as with any work, there are rewarding moments, too, says Starkey, who grew up an Army brat and traveled all over the world with his father, a career NCO combat medic. Starkey now teaches combat medic skills training for the Army National Guard. “As an instructor, seeing the light come on in a student’s facial expression when they finally figure out a problem on their own” ranks among his favorite occurrences.

In addition to offsetting his profession’s high stress with the dark humor common to his coworkers, Starkey unwinds with family and friends over dinner and canasta. He also can be found at the firing range knocking down steel targets at 500 meters. “My wife calls it ‘recoil therapy,’” Starkey jokes. The couple has two sons.

He met his wife of 33 years while studying nursing, when he also took an EMT course. He needed a job and was told by the head nurse in an area ED that he might be best cut out for ambulance work, and got a job with Martin’s Ambulance Service in Madera. The rest is history. He joined the profession “not by planning. I fell into it by accident,” he says.

But a lot of his inclination toward the career was formed not only by his father’s work, but by his early involvement in scouting. “I received my best education from scouting, including first aid and leadership,” he says, adding, “I have two brothers and one sister and I am the oldest. And as such, I had to learn how to be strong and fair in dealing with my siblings.” These interpersonal skills are helpful in his line of work. Also, he was attracted by the “constant change day to day and not being stuck in a building.”

Having spent so many years in ambulance work, Starkey, 53, knows the myths and inside scoop. Among the myths he debunks are the public’s misconceptions, which include the belief that more bedlam arises on a full moon. Not so, says Starkey, who lives in the Sierra foothills outside Fresno. He says, “There is no rhyme or reason to the pattern that patients are presented.” No threes, no types of incidents, it’s just random. He says one of the bigger misconceptions of the general public is that coming into the ED by ambulance gets you seen any faster. And that paramedics and EMTs do not make nearly as much money as the public believes they do, he says. “Also, the public (and some paramedics) often believe that we should never ever cry,” Not true either, Starkey says. “There is a time and a place.”

Does he have any advice for those eager to enter paramedic work? “Don’t allow Hollywood to pull the wool over your eyes,” says Starkey. “Things are never like they are on TV or in the movies. But if you decide to get in this business, you need to realize it is not all black and white. This career field is filled with medical ambiguity. You need to develop the skill that we call critical thinking, for the patient’s body does not read the textbook and doesn’t have to follow it,” offers the veteran paramedic. “With that in mind, this job is a blast.”

How does he want to be remembered? “As someone who was hard but fair in enforcing the rules so that all patients receive competent care and everyone got to go home at the end of their shift.”

But after three decades, while retirement may not be imminent, Starkey envisions the end as perhaps not an end at all: “When I get an admit to the eternal care facility, I truly cannot see myself not doing something involving EMS.” Even the end he sees isn’t black and white, just another scene filled with shades of gray.

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