It is 1 a.m. The Student Health Center is no longer open and you have a terrible stomach ache. You could wake up Mom, but what if it’s something more? You need help now, but where do you go?

Wouldn’t it be great if there was a 24-hour health information telephone line to help students with their health problems? Well, now there is.

Mary Greeley Hospital, in conjunction with McFarland Clinic and Marshalltown Medical and Surgical Center, has implemented a program called First Nurse. Iowa State also helps to fund the program.

“Mary Greeley Medical Center, McFarland Clinic, Marshalltown Medical and Surgical Center and Iowa State University saw the need for a service that would provide standard health information and also help to access the appropriate medical services,” said Jolene Frette, First Nurse Coordinator at Mary Greeley.

First Nurse is a computer based health information line staffed by local nurses. The program acts as a triage service that offers health information 24 hours a day.

A caller is first given a brief assessment of the problem from the nurse on duty. Then based on the severity of the symptoms described during the assessment, the nurse will recommend that the caller either get medical attention in the morning, go to the emergency room or use a home remedy.

Ellen Owings, a RN staffed by First Nurse, said, “One of our main priorities is to identify where the caller is currently getting medical care and refer him or her back to that clinic.”

The program has been up and running since August 26 and is offered to ISU students as a compliment of the Student Health Center.

“We have been getting calls from Iowa State students,” Owings said, “especially after hours.”

“Calls have been coming from a variety of places and over a variety of symptoms and the response has been positive,” Frette said.

The number to call in Ames to reach a First Nurse is 239-6877. Outside of the Ames calling area the number is 1-800-6877.