Renata Birkenbuel
ICT

A global technology outage affected some community Indian Health Service clinics on Friday, but at least one local clinic used old-fashioned resourcefulness until its unit was back online.

The Crow Service Unit Indian Health Service in Crow Agency, Montana, relied on old school ingenuity – pen and paper forms – after a faulty Microsoft software update sparked a global technology outage on Friday. The faux paux grounded flights, knocked banks and media outlets offline, disrupted hospitals, small businesses and other services, the Associated Press reported.

“We went back to the (19)90s when everything was written; we went back to that temporarily, but we are back up now,” said a front desk person who answered the phone at the Crow Service Unit. “A lot of clinics closed for the day, but we are open now.”

Another Montana Indian Health Service at Fort Peck posted a flier on its Facebook page that read: “We will be closed Friday, July 19, 2024, due to a nationwide power outage that has affected the networks. We will be closed until further notice at both the Wolf Point and Poplar Dental offices.”

The Crow Service Unit oversees three health care institutions for the Crow Reservation in southern Montana and home to the Apsaalooke Nation: The Crow/Northern Cheyenne Hospital, the Lodge Grass Health Clinic and the Pryor Health Station.

The Crow Service Unit posted the following message on its Facebook page Friday morning:

“The Crow Service Unit’s computer systems have been impacted by a nationwide Windows software issue that is headlining in the news this morning.

Today, we will be providing only essential services, including those in the Emergency and Inpatient Departments. Radiology, Laboratory, and Pharmacy services may be limited as they prioritize support for these departments.

Crow, Lodge Grass, and Pryor Outpatient medical and dental clinic visits will be limited or rescheduled to another day.”

Red Lake Hospital Indian Health Service in northern Minnesota was also affected for part of Friday. The hospital notified people via its Facebook page about the outage and when the issue was resolved.

A phone call and email to Indian Health Service’s headquarters was not returned by publication.

Cybersecurity firm CrowdStrike emphasized that the Microsoft Windows update it issued did not comprise a security problem or cyberattack.

Still, the incident revealed vulnerable businesses globally.

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