Indian Health Service (Pine Ridge, SD) - is it safe?

[gsinccom]

I've been talking to a pharmacy staffing agency about temp work with IHS or the VA. They would like to put me at the Pine Ridge Indian Health Hospital in a few weeks. I never done IHS but have am care training so I think I'll be OK professionally however I'm somewhat worried about my safety. Reading the Pine Ridge wikipedia article freaked me out! Also I'm wondering if there is anywhere safe to live near the reservation or if I should live in Hot Springs SD which is an hour and fifteen minutes away. Lastly are the roads to the IHS hospital driveable w/o an SUV? Does anyone have any experience with this site? Please fill me in! Thank you, G

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[Caverject]

I've been talking to a pharmacy staffing agency about temp work with IHS or the VA. They would like to put me at the Pine Ridge Indian Health Hospital in a few weeks. I never done IHS but have am care training so I think I'll be OK professionally however I'm somewhat worried about my safety. Reading the Pine Ridge wikipedia article freaked me out! Also I'm wondering if there is anywhere safe to live near the reservation or if I should live in Hot Springs SD which is an hour and fifteen minutes away. Lastly are the roads to the IHS hospital driveable w/o an SUV? Does anyone have any experience with this site? Please fill me in! Thank you, G

Bring a shotgun with you and you need an mrap to navigate the area safely...roads are full of insurgents!

 

[SortingItOut]

The forum website www.city-data.com is a good place to start when you want to learn about an area. There are some interesting threads on Pine Ridge. They also address the claim that there is a gang issue.

As for what car to drive, from what I understand, the Dakotas get some rough winter weather (i.e. snow). If I'm living in an area with snow, my vehicle better have all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive.

 

[gsinccom]

The forum website www.city-data.com is a good place to start when you want to learn about an area. There are some interesting threads on Pine Ridge. They also address the claim that there is a gang issue.

As for what car to drive, from what I understand, the Dakotas get some rough winter weather (i.e. snow). If I'm living in an area with snow, my vehicle better have all-wheel drive or four-wheel drive.

Thanks for your thoughts.

I did see the city-data thread but it is 4 years old. I would be at the site late August-late October.

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

Thanks for your thoughts.

I did see the city-data thread but it is 4 years old. I would be at the site late August-late October.

Have you considered calling the pharmacy at IHS Pine Ridge and talking with a couple pharmacists there? Worth a shot, see what they have to say.

 

[gsinccom]

Have you considered calling the pharmacy at IHS Pine Ridge and talking with a couple pharmacists there? Worth a shot, see what they have to say.

Good suggestion, thank you!

 

[njac]

I move a lot (PGY-1, PGY-2, now job) and have found city-data to be incredibly negative about everywhere I've gone.

It's good to get an idea of what's not perfect about a place, but I think the overall consensus there is never positive and loses touch with the actual city and people there.

 

[PumpkinSmasher]

I move a lot (PGY-1, PGY-2, now job) and have found city-data to be incredibly negative about everywhere I've gone.

It's good to get an idea of what's not perfect about a place, but I think the overall consensus there is never positive and loses touch with the actual city and people there.

I completing agree, citydata overall always seems negative but it does offer some good insights, just do not get hung up on what is said too much. When I did my IHS rotation, I was told by the Chief pharmacist, " Do not go down to the downtown area of the reservation at night, just don't." The female interns were told not to jog through town even in the daytime.

 

[The Fargoan]

Any car will be fine for travel in late August - late October. Not sure about Pine Ridge, but South Dakota is known to have paved roads. You're not going back in time. . .

 

[rph3664]

One of my classmates did a paid summer internship at Pine Ridge, and lived in a small town about 50 miles away, off the reservation. She chose to do this because there was literally nothing to do on the reservation itself. This was almost 20 years ago, and by all accounts, things are actually worse there now, not better.

The thing that freaked her out the most was pre-teen pregnancy and that this wasn't shocking to the people who lived there.