The public is invited to take advantage of the wide variety of services that will be available from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 25 in the McLane and Brockel Building commons at the Kenai River Campus in Soldotna. The event is organized by Alaska Health Fair, Inc. in conjunction with the KRC Student Health Clinic.

The fair will offer free health education materials from local educators and health and safety providers. Attendees will have access to many free health screenings, including blood pressure measurement, vision and glaucoma checks and body mass index readings.

Individuals 18 years of age and older will have access to high quality, low cost blood tests (9 a.m. – 1 p.m. in Brockel room 158), including the following: comprehensive metabolic panel (27 tests, plus CBC and lipids panel) for $45, thyroid stimulating hormone for $30, estimated average glucose (A1C) for $25, prostate specific antigen for $25, vitamin D levels for $50, and ABO/RH blood typing for $20. For best results, participants are urged to fast for 12 hours (nothing by mouth except water and prescribed medications) prior to having the comprehensive blood test drawn.

For more information, please contact Audrey Standerfer, R.N., KRC Student Health Clinic coordinator, at 262-0362 or e-mail astander@kpc.alaska.edu.

Every semester students at the Kenai River Campus are encouraged to participate in student forums as a way to interact with KPC administrators and other Leadership Team members. The goal of the event is to provide a platform for students to bring questions and concerns forward. Conversely, the forums serve as an information conduit for students to hear important information directly from KPC Director Gary Turner and other key faculty and staff members.

The forums are held each fall and spring semester.

Two sessions, one Tuesday and another Wednesday, are held, both at different times, to allow for variations in students’ schedules.

The forums are publicized as an event all college students can relate to: “Ask Questions and Eat Pizza.”

Issues that have been discussed at previous forums include tuition/fee rates, computer lab use, smoking on campus, children on campus and after-hours access to campus facilities.

This semester student forums will be held in the KRC McLane commons, Tuesday, March 3 at 2:15 p.m. and Wednesday, March 4 at 5:15 p.m.

Since KPC’s paramedic program was launched ten years ago, 84 students have graduated with 2-year, associate of applied science degrees. According to instructors in the program, more than 90 percent of the graduates passed the National Registry on the first attempt compared to a 64 percent national average.

The recent expansion of the EMS department at KRC has allowed for even more coordination of continuing medical education opportunities for local fire departments and emergency responders. To date, many paid and volunteer responders have received many hours of complimentary training in KRC’s EMS department. Departments who have benefited from the continuing education opportunities include Nikiski, Kenai, Seward Volunteer Ambulance Corps, Ninilchik, Anchor Point, Central Emergency Service stations at Sterling, Soldotna, Kasilof, and Kachemak Emergency Services outside of Homer. The program has also offered training to employees of the Drift River complex on the west side of the Cook Inlet where both fire and EMS personnel respond to the native communities of Beluga and Tyonek.

This column is provided by Suzie Kendrick, Advancement Programs Manager at Kenai Peninsula College.