WesternU HCOM students provide medical aid at Linn County Fair

Several Western University of Health Sciences Heatherington College of Osteopathic Medicine (WesternU HCOM) students spent the weekend providing medical support at the Linn County Fair, held July 16-18, 2026.

The annual Linn County Fair draws thousands of visitors from across the county, including Lebanon, Albany, and Sweet Home, to celebrate the region's agricultural heritage while enjoying carnival rides, local food, and live entertainment. As fairgoers filled the grounds throughout the weekend, WesternU HCOM students were on hand to help keep the event safe.

WesternU's participation in the fair was done in partnership with the Linn County Sheriff's Office and the Sheriff Office's Search and Rescue Team. It was WesternU HCOM fourth-year student Mikayla Bradley who first got involved with Search and Rescue. Bradley, who is interested in emergency medicine, hopes to pursue an emergency medical services (EMS) fellowship after residency with the goal of taking on a leadership role in disaster management. When the county opened a Search and Rescue academy for adults a few years ago, Bradley was eager to sign up.

"I've been interested in doing Search and Rescue for many years. Back in high school I volunteered with the Red Cross and in college I did the community CERT (Community Emergency Response Teams) team. In order to be on a Search and Rescue Team, you need to go through training and get your certification. The only option in Linn County was through their cadre team, the youth training," said Bradley. "I just decided to Google it one night and saw that applications were open for their first adult class, so I signed up, got the offer, and went through the training during my second year of medical school. I've been a part of it ever since."

Inspired by Bradley's experience, second-year students Nicka Ambre and Nancy Linehan also joined Search and Rescue. They were joined at the fair by WesternU HCOM Associate Professor of Family Medicine and Medical Director of Health Care Simulation Derrick Sorweide, MD, who also joined Linn County Search and Rescue this past year.

"It's something I've been wanting to do for a long time," said Dr. Sorweide. "This has been an opportunity to take the WesternU name out into the world and to help people out. We're working at the fair this weekend and we're working at other festivals around the county. We've already had several rescues over the last few weeks, including a hiker that was missing for four days. The opportunity is there to save lives. But more than that, there's countless opportunities just to help, get people together, and get people feeling better."

Throughout the fair, WesternU students provided basic medical care while also working alongside youth Search and Rescue volunteers and Linn County deputies to educate fairgoers on different community resources and safety initiatives.

"We also work together with our nonmedical personnel. We provide child identification wristbands and handouts. We distribute educational materials, including information about fire safety and all that good stuff," said Linehan. "It helps a lot to work with the youth, the cadre. They are ages 14-21, but a lot of them have been doing this for a long time. It's a really valuable experience, a really good way to connect and continue to hopefully inspire the younger members of our community to reach for good things."

For second-year WesternU HCOM student Nicka Ambre, volunteering with Linn County Search and Rescue has been a meaningful way to give back to the community while gaining valuable clinical experience outside the classroom.

"Just getting hands-on and interacting with patients has been so helpful. In med school, since you're studying all the time, it can be quite difficult to get that patient interaction. And just helping the community while you're here, because they provide so much for medical students, whether that's a place to study in their coffee shop or a free bagel while you're studying. So, it's nice to give back to the community that's giving us so much as med students," said Ambre.

Bradley hopes more medical students will consider joining Search and Rescue, saying the experience has strengthened both her medical education and her connection to the community.

"I would just encourage any other medical students who are unsure if they can handle something else outside of school to go for it. It can only benefit your education. It's all volunteer, so if you can't go, that's totally fine. But on the calls you can make, or even at events like this at the fair, you're getting to do basic first aid and be around other providers. It adds a lot, and it keeps your mind focused on why we're in medical school in the first place," said Bradley.