This week a Sacramento State professor and student assistant are headed to Mexico in a single-engine plane to conduct hearing tests on locals to gauge the effect of mining and agriculture noise.

James McCartney, professor of speech pathology and audiology, believes that the community of Hidalgo, Mexico is at high risk for hearing loss due to the activity of the copper mines and agricultural business that goes on in the town.

“I would like to train (the health care people) and go back once a year to check up on them,” McCartney said.

McCartney and Yolanda Young, his assistant, will be providing hearing loss testing, which is done by placing an appliance in the ear that takes a picture and details the movement of the ear to show any abnormalities. The other test is a frequency (pitch) test in which headphones are used and different pitches are applied to show if there is any hearing loss.McCartney said he gains personal satisfaction from the trips.

“What I get from it is the excitement of giving someone a hearing aid and seeing their face light up because they can here out of an ear that they have never heard out of before,” McCartney said. “It is very exciting.”

Young also believes that this trip is necessary. “They do not have any type of testing or screening. They do not have any audiologists?a lot of people, when they have a middle ear infection, just wait until their ear drum literally just bursts because they don’t have the money for treatment,” Young said.

Young hopes that by making this trip she will be able to make a difference.

“I want to go and help and give something back to the community” Young said.

A pilot, Tom Prescott, and an interpreter, Doug Zike, will also accompany McCartney and Young on the trip.

Prescott is looking forward to the trip because he believes that it is a worthwhile endeavor. “I enjoy helping the people,” Prescott said. “They are wonderful.”

McCartney is not sure how much longer he will be able to continue to go on these trips because of the financial burden.

McCartney is looking for potential donors to contribute to the organization Los Medicos Voladores, which translates into “Flying Doctors.”

“If anyone would like to sponsor a child for high school or donate monies, as little or as much as possible, please call my office,” McCartney said.

McCartney can be reached at 278-7341 or by e-mail at [email protected].