HJBR Sep/Oct 2021

HEALTHCARE JOURNAL OF BATON ROUGE I  SEP / OCT 2021 13 2019, specifically July 1, 2019, we began our response for all ages, zero to death. The rea- son it took us some time to get that estab- lished is because, first of all, there are very few of these specially trained adult sexual assault nurse examiners in the state of Loui- siana; there are even less (and when I say less, maybe one or two) pediatric sexual assault nurse examiners. We had to train them, and it took some time. But, midway through 2019, we did 261 exams on all ages. Then we go to 2020, and we did 285. That number is continuing to grow. Even though it’s one of my smaller jurisdictions number-wise, we are seeing an increase, especially during COVID, especially even into 2021, which I don’t have the statistics published yet for this year. The sad part is that that increase in numbers we’re starting to see is in the pediatric population, which is very concerning regardless of whether we’re talking about adults or kids, but spe- cifically in kids is where we’re seeing the biggest problem. Editor You’ve been in your position for a while. What has surprised you the most? Clark I would say what’s interesting is when I look back over the years that I’ve been in this office, every year, our case load in any category seems to grow — year after year after year — but our population in East Baton Rouge Parish, as far as I know, is stay- ing pretty steady. I’m not sure what are all the — and certainly, it’s not going to be one factor, it’s going to be multiple — factors that are contributing to this. Are we providing services more effi- ciently, and that’s why we’re seeing num- bers grow? That’s a possibility. Are there other factors like we talked about related to homicides, and that’s why those num- bers are growing? That’s a possibility, as well. The opioid epidemic, it started when I first started taking office, and we haven’t really hit the top of it yet. I’m hoping, one day, we get to the top and start coming down the other side of the slope of the bell curve where we’re treating people more than we’re investigating their deaths. It appears like it’s a roller coaster, but it’s a rollercoaster that you’re stuck going up as opposed to the ups and downs. I didn’t expect to see that, especially the num- bers increasing like they have so quickly — we’re talking, really, just over a 10-year period, these numbers have grown pretty significantly. Editor Has your view on death changed since being a coroner? Clark I would say, yes and no. And, I know that probably sounds like an easy way out of the question, but certainly, I have dealt with death as a physician my entire career. I’ve been practicing now 21 years, including residency, but what becomes interesting is some of the more horrific cases that I get involved in as the coroner. Obviously, the death of a child, especially traumatic death of a child, is very hard. Then you get stuck in the middle of an opioid epidemic, which we didn’t knowwas coming. We got stuck in a COVID pandemic. These things are really baffling to the mind sometimes. Oftentimes, one of the most difficult cases that I deal with is suicides. Our suicide num- bers, annually, are between 40 and 60 cases a year; there’s not a whole lot of fluctuance up or down from that — that’s kind of where they’ve stayed over the course of a decade — but they’re very difficult cases, because, clearly, I can usually tell family members how the individual died, but the answer that they really want the most is why. And, I don’t have a reason for that. That can become very frustrating when I’m trying to compas- sionately help somebody get through a very difficult time, because I would like to answer that question for them, but I just don’t have an answer. Cases like that are the ones that become very difficult for me and my staff because of the circumstances I described. Editor Will you be doing another Ironman? Clark Yes, I will [laughing]. Probably not for a little while, because the last one was so vicious, but I already am scheduled to do a half Ironman — which they call Ironman 70.3, because it’s 70.3 miles — in October, so my training schedule is just kicking off for that race. Because of the sheer amount of time it takes to train for an Ironman, I might put the full-distance races on hold, because like everybody else, working out for two or three hours on the weekend is nice, but working out for seven or eight hours on the weekend can take a toll on your family life. Editor Have you ever seen the spirit of some- one who’s died in your facility or experienced paranormal activity? Clark Well, I guess you would describe how you define their spirits, right? I have never experienced anything like you would imag- ine on the movies — like an apparition or anything like that — but I have experienced through the environment that I’m in and the people that I’m around, I think maybe it’s not necessarily the dead that are talking to us, but just the situation. In my opinion, you’re put in a very difficult situation with a family who’s had some kind of tragedy. I oftentimes think that I was put there on pur- pose by God, because I had something to offer those individuals. In essence of itself, that is the feeling of that spirit. Does that make sense?Where you — I’m trying to put this in the best words I can — but you have the ability tomake an impact on somebody’s life, especially during a very tragic or trau- matic time. In essence, that is very spiritual. How does that sound? Editor Yeah, you almost speak for that per- son? You must feel what they were feeling at that point, and you share that with the fam- ily? Clark Yeah, either that or you have the ability to possibly provide comfort, which is a very Christian thing to do, I think. n