Sending out an SOS
Tribe hopes signs will help speed aid to those in need

By Karen Francis
Diné Bureau

WINDOW ROCK — As “Operation Snow Melt” continues, Navajo Nation residents are being asked to indicate needs with color-coded signs. Red means there is a critical medical emergency, green is for fuel and blue is for water and food.

Members of strike teams are traveling graded roads across the nation looking for the emergency signs that are to be hung or placed at their turnoffs if they need help.

The Emergency Operation Centers are also asking the public to report if they see any such signs in remote areas to local chapter officials.

The tribe’s EOC reported several successes from Tuesday including the rescue of an elderly dialysis patient who was precomatose when emergency personnel reached him.

Another rescue involved a woman whose husband walked 8 miles to the chapter house to report that she needed medical assistance. A Navajo Tribal Utility Authority Snow Cat was dispatched around 9 p.m. to the residence along with a team of law enforcement, a community health representative and public health nurse. The Snow Cat reached the residence and the elderly woman was transported to a waiting ambulance at 11:45 p.m. and transported to the Fort Defiance Indian Hospital.

Two NTUA Snow Cats were also used in the past week to relay medication to elderly in Kinlichee.

Strike teams also made assessments Tuesday morning in Central, Northern and Fort Defiance Agencies. The teams, which include community health representatives, public health nurses, law enforcement and resource enforcement rangers, visited the most remote areas of Sawmill, Red Lake and Oaksprings chapters.

Navajo Department of Transportation motor graders have been out for the past two days trying to work with communities to clear main and secondary roads. The public is asked to be cautious around heavy equipment as operators are wearing ear plugs because of loud noise from the equipment.

The EOC is also warning that the weather will get warmer and the snow melt will create additional problems.