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Heartline Magazine April - June 2006
PRESIDENT’S REPORT
19TH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados INC.
Held at the Foundation’s headquarters
#3 Railway view, Ladymeade Gardens, Jemmotts lane,St. Michael, Barbados
On Tuesday April 18th 2006
Ladies and Gentlemen:
On this date exactly twenty-one years ago [the 18th of April 1985] the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados Inc., became a non-profit organisation under the
Companies act of Barbados. The records indicate:
“The Foundation came to fruition through the shared initiatives of the Lions
Club of Barbados South, through its Health and Social Services Committee, then
under the chairmanship of Mr. H. (Dru) Symmonds SCM, J.P., and Dr. Trevor Hassell,
Cardiologist and Head of Department of Medicine at the Q.E.H.’
And so to day the 18th of April 2006 we celebrate our twenty-first
anniversary. It is a significant milestone indeed, and the Foundation has been
widely acclaimed for having accomplished much in the fulfilment of the goals we
set ourselves, and which are set out in our Articles of Incorporation.
Significantly:-
The garnering and dissemination of new and existing knowledge and its
application for the benefit of people suffering from heart diseases, as has been
so outstandingly executed in our Emergency Cardiac Care programme, as well as
our Cardiac Disease and Rehabilitation unit.
Our engagement in programs of public education and public information to
inform people regarding the importance of heart disease as a problem and what
can be done to help prevent or control it.
The acceptance of the challenge to secure funds vitally needed to finance
the Company’s programs and operations.
Our extensive cooperation in the plans and programs, of national and
international agencies which have similar objectives; as exemplified by our
affiliation with the AHA, our founding association with the IAHF, and our inputs
to the creation of the National Resuscitation Centre.
And to- day, somewhat like the metamorphosis of the caterpillar, this
organisation evolves into the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados Inc. A
significant event of the year under review, and in keeping with a pledge I made
on behalf of your Board of Directors at our last Annual General Meeting.
THE FINANCIAL YEAR IN REVIEW:
In reporting to the general body at this AGM, a few changes have been
implemented.
Part of the changes we have implemented is the introduction of a “Report of the
Directors and Trustees …” This report is proposed to be circulated in advance of
the AGM, for the benefit of members, and to allow your greater interaction
should you desire. The new constitution which comes into effect as of the
election of your new Board of Directors this evening, will see this report
emanating from the desk of the CEO, who shall be the Company Secretary, This
year’s report for the year ending September 30th 2005 has been presented by Dr.
Rowena Ayhee - Hallsworth, our outgoing Secretary, and affirms ‘inter alia’
that: -
“…..During 2005 the Board of Directors held a Retreat to further discuss
operational aspects, reviewed and revised the Strategy Document for the period
2004 – 2006 and agreed the Annual Operational Plan 2005/6. This ‘AOP’ document
is intended to guide our operations throughout the period, and future annual
reports will set out the progress achieved in the five key strategic areas of
the plan.
The Board continued to meet monthly throughout the year ended September 30,
2005 and attendance by Board members was satisfactory.
some of the other achievements of the year in review were:-
• Launched a new website on 22nd November 2004 – www.hfob.org
• Revamped Heartline and increased its circulation from 2,000 to 3,000 for the
first three quarterly editions and to 4,000 for the July-September 2005 edition
• Brought the accounting function in-house using QuickBooks
• Commenced a weekly interview series on CBC’s The Chat Room
• Increased significantly press coverage in both The Advocate and Daily Nation
• Launched a survey of Barbadian’s knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPs) in
relation to heart disease leading to a TV Media Campaign
• Held a joint fundraising concert, An evening of music, at Holders
• Introduced Bingo into the fundraising calendar
• Re-introduced the Healthy Lifestyle Seminar for Business and Professional
Executives
• Participated in the Kiwanis “Silver Dollars for Children” appeal
• Improved the World Heart Day event…...”
The full report of Dr. Ahyee-Hallsworth is contained within the presentation
of the Financial Statements for your ease of reference, and it is my pleasant
duty to express the Board’s sincere appreciation, and that of you the members of
the Foundation, to those many corporate entities who have so wonderfully
contributed to the successful implementation of many of our projects.
I must add that the Foundation is deeply indebted to Messers Ernst & Young,
Chartered Accountants, who have carried out the requisite review of our accounts
every year since our inception, and given us valued guidance over these
twenty-one years, so that we have the proud record of fiscal discipline envied
by some other Non-Governmental Organisations. You will note that Dr. Hallsworth
anticipates that this meeting will appoint Ernst & Young as the auditors for the
new entity ‘The Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados Inc.” and that
recommendation will I am sure be supported by all of us.
In addition to the foregoing, there are a couple of areas, which I think
that you would wish me to address.
1]. Emergency Cardiac Care programme:
This programme continues to be extremely well implemented and managed; and its
ongoing success has been characterised by two events in particular during the
period under review.
Firstly, In November 2004 the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados (HFOB) provided
training and certification in First Aid to close to two hundred persons in what
was said to be the largest mass training exercise of its kind ever to be held in
the Caribbean. Entitled “Care For Life”. The programme, which was sponsored by
the Barbados National Bank, was held over two Saturdays at the headquarters of
the Barbados Defence Force. Eighteen fully accredited American Heart Association
instructors conducted the all-day sessions, which taught the management of
medical and trauma led injuries, as well as an introduction to CPR and the use
of the Automated External Defibrillator (AED).
Dr. Brian Charles, head of the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados’ Emergency
Cardiac Care programme, and leader of the course, was pleased with the outcome.
Saying that there were, as was to be naturally expected, some challenges in
organizing an event of such a magnitude for the first time. These challenges
included getting all the instructors together for one day and scheduling
sessions for such a large number of participants. However, at the end of the day
the course went very well. The Foundation is now looking to make the programme a
regular one in its annual calendar, holding perhaps two or three all day
training sessions per year.
Secondly, Your Foundation, in association with the American Heart
Association and the InterAmerican Heart Foundation hosted the 4th Annual
Caribbean Conference on Emergency Cardiac Care (ECC), at the Grand Barbados
Beach Resort, from the 17th to 19th of June 2005. This event brought together
doctors, nurses, paramedics, medical and nursing students and other emergency
care practitioners from throughout the Caribbean, USA, Central and South
America, in an initiative aimed at improving training and practice of health
care in the field of resuscitation and intensive care. A total of 130 persons
registered for the main conference, 37 for Advanced Cardiac Life Support
Training, 50 for Basic Life Support for the Health Care Provider, 4 for
Paediatric First Aid Instructor, 19 for the Advocacy and Capacity Building
Workshop and 22 for Paediatric First Aid Provider.
Presentations were made by well renowned experts including Professor Hassell,
Dr.’s Raymond Massay, Sergio Timmerman (Cardiologists), Dr’s Brian Charles,
Michael Sayre, Chaynie Williams, David Byer (Emergency Physicians), Dr.’s
Ahyee-Hallsworth, Lambert Inniss, Carol Solomon (Anaesthetist), Dr.’s Anne-Marie
Hassell and Dawn Alleyne (Intensivist), and Dr. Adrian Lorde among others. This
premier group are authorities in their respective fields and originate from the
Caribbean, South America and the USA. The topics ranged from the science of
resuscitation at a very basic level to audits and research on the care of the
acutely ill and medical preparation for large sporting events like Cricket World
Cup 2007. The conference was designed to encompass the needs of laypersons,
medical, nursing and paramedical persons in training, and doctors and nurses in
the general practice or the hospital setting.
Training and Certification
The training and certification, which followed the main conference, was in
Basic Life Support and Paediatric First Aid for any registrant including
non-medical personnel, and Advanced Cardiac Life Support for medical, nursing
and paramedical registrants. These courses are American Heart Association
courses and course completion certificates are recognised worldwide and are
valid for 2 years. 4 instructors from the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados were
trained to be instructors in Paediatric First Aid.
Advocacy Workshop
A special interactive workshop, conducted by the InterAmerican Heart
Foundation, took place on the final day of the conference. This ‘Advocacy and
Team Building Workshop’ was aimed at the advocacy and promotion of health
related initiatives (including ECC), in the region. Participants ranged from
medical and paramedical persons to policy makers in the region. The mandate of
the IAHF is;
To promote an environment throughout the Americas conducive to the reduction
of morbidity and mortality from cardiovascular diseases and stroke;
To facilitate the development and growth of heart foundations, their role in
public and professional education, public advocacy and fund raising;
To foster partnerships between health professionals and other sectors of society
including business and government for the accomplishment of its mission.
Participants at the conference benefited from exposure to new and novel
topics, shared methods of improving care of the ill and resuscitation, underwent
vital training and certification and participated in an Advocacy Workshop. All
these activities will serve to improve the overall standard of health care
particularly management of emergencies throughout the region.
Judging from the reports from participants, dignitaries and officials alike,
the conference was a resounding success.
In concluding highlights on the ECC programme, I wish to thank Dr. Charles
for the truly excellent work he has put into leading the programme. Brain’s
enthusiasm and competence has been so increasingly absorbed into other
development projects, that in order to relieve the pressure on him directly, and
guarantee the uninhibited growth of the programme, the Foundation has recently
taken into its full employment Mrs. Gina Pitts a Registered nurse who holds a
Bachelors in applied and Community Studies [with Distinction] as Manager of the
ECC Programme. Mrs. Pitts, born of Barbadian parents in UK. Took up residence in
the land of her parents in 2002 and has been associated with the Foundation as a
volunteer ever since then, and specifically has been the chief trainer and
coordinator of the Programme for the last two years.
2]. Cardiac Disease Prevention and Rehabilitation Unit:
This unit originally hailed as the ‘Flag ship’ of the Foundation continued to
show an improvement in its financial viability during the year under review, as
well as an improved level of professionalism of service it offers to the public.
The unit offers service Mondays Wednesdays and Fridays from 7.00am until
7.00pm, with Tuesdays and Thursdays set aside for admissions, training, staff
meetings and other administrative duties. It is expected that that scenario will
change over the short term with an increased demand for the expanded services
currently under discussion.
Staff.
During the year there were four persons working in the unit. The Programme
Manager who was a full time employee and three part-time nurses. A pool of
nurses was created in order to source available nurses when necessary, e.g.
vacation and sick leave.
Training.
In house training in the area of cardiac rehab nursing was undertaken; while
Nurse Kim Clarke - Grant attended the 20th Caribbean Cardiology Conference in
Key Biscayne Florida from the 20th to the 23rd July 2005, and Nurse Hazel
Fergusson participated in one week of training in rehab nursing in Harrisburg
Pennsylvania USA from the 25th September to the 1st October 2005.
Equipment
They were no major problems experienced with the exercise equipment although
parts of the strength training equipment had to be replaced from time to time.
Servicing of the exercise equipment was carried out every three months by Mr.
Gamble servicing technician. One treadmill and weight bench were donated to the
rehab by Ms. Jeanne Pollard during the month of September 2005. The telemetry
system was problematic and the need for an upgrade of this equipment was
obvious. The agents were contacted regarding a quotation for a new system and
visited the unit on the 28th September2005.
Medical Committee
On the 16th February 2005 a medical committee was formed, and subsequent
meetings were held on the 4th May and the 31st August. The formation of the
committee is an important achievement, and a necessary step toward meeting the
requirements of the American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary
Rehabilitation. The Board expresses gratitude to Dr. Stephen Moe, Dr. Rudolph
Delice and Dr. Dawn Scantlebury, for having given voluntarily of their service
to the committee, which also includes the Honorary Medical Director at that time
Dr. Colin Alert, Programme Manager Mrs. Shirley Gill and the CEO.
Services:
I am pleased to report that the unit continues to benefit significantly from the
important service support from traditional suppliers Spectrol, Cardiac Technical
services, and Ms. Beverley Stanford.
Spectrol
Mr. Darcy Evans of Spectrol has from the inception of the programme contributed
by performing lipid tests for clients of the rehab free of charge. The
Foundation has recently concluded a renewal agreement with Spectrol to continue
the service of total lipid profiling.
Cardiac Technical Services
Ms. Therese Glomeau continued to provide stress tests for all phase 2 clients
entering the programme without recent testing, while efforts to have treadmill
tests performed at the HFOB was ongoing.
Nutritional Counselling
Ms. Beverley Stanford, nutritionist continued to counsel and teaches clients in
the area of nutrition.
I wish to place on record the Foundation’s profound gratitude to Ms.
Gloumeau, Ms. Stanford and Mr Evans and their companies for the tremendous
public spiritedness, and essential assistance rendered to the Foundation.
General
There is a new ‘Client orientation booklet’, which was completed and made
available to clients joining the programme. This was accomplished with the
assistance of Mr. Tony Cumberbatch, a Foundation volunteer and a client of the
rehab unit.
Mrs, Shirley Gill, who was the Programme Manager of the CDP&R Unit during
the year under review, has since resigned to migrate to the USA. Mrs Gill has
rendered yeoman service to the Foundation for close to ten years, and was held
in high esteem by the Board, Staff and the clientele of the unit. In bidding her
a fond but sad farewell, we wish to place on the record our thanks to her for
her important years of service in the development of the CDP&R unit, and wish
her and her family all the best in their new lease of life.
Mrs Gill has been succeeded by Mrs. Kim Clarke Grant. Kim who is a very
competent and enthusiastic nursing professional is no stranger to the unit,
having worked with us for nine years, and has benefited from specialized
training at home and overseas. We welcome Mrs Kim Clarke – Grant and look
forward to her initiatives in confronting the challenge of further development,
and the expansion anticipated consequent upon the embracing of Stroke interests.
In submitting her report on the department Mrs Gill noted that the main goal
of the Cardiac Disease Prevention and Rehabilitation Programme is excellent
service that would make a lifelong positive impact on the lives of those who
enter the programme. She says ‘How to achieve this goal and reach as many
individuals as possible has been the main focus of the staff’. However she notes
that the Foundation’s efforts have been met with varying measures of success.
And stresses that It is highly desirable that during the upcoming year we
continue to put measures in place to bring the programme up the standard set by
the AACVPR [ American Association of Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Rehabilitation
] and be registered with that organization.
It is recognized that the vast majority of individuals who would benefit
from the services that the programme offer are not reached but during the year
we have seen an increase in the number of individuals who have approached their
doctors and asked for a referral. It would be ideal to have an automatic
referral of heart attack and CABG [ Coronary Artery By-pass Graph ] patients
from the QEH and although this accomplishment may seem monumental it is within
our pursuit.
Ladies and Gentlemen, before I conclude my report from the CDP&R unit, I am
also to pay tribute to Dr. Colin Alert, who after four years of voluntary
service to the CDP&R department as ‘Medical Director’ has been given leave to
withdraw in the face of demands from his own practice and involvement elsewhere.
Colin also served for a period as a Director of the Foundation, and has been a
real stalwart to the organisation. On behalf of all of us Thank you sincerely,
Dr. Colin Alert, and thanks too for your offer to none-the-less be there for us
should we have emergency need of your service while you are in office.
Relative to the foregoing, I am please to welcome Dr.Hermant Boolani who has
accepted the Medical committee’s invitation to succeed Dr. Alert.
3]. World Heart Day
It is with much satisfaction that I am to record the excellent improvement in
the execution of this event in 2005, and to recognise the wonderful efforts of
Mrs. Angela Emtage whose committee [cardiac support Group] in conjunction with
the central administration carried out the project which was sponsored by
Messres Guardian Life Insurance.
4]. Finance Generation [Fundraising]
The Foundation’s effort at major fund raising was a dismal failure during the
year under review. Members will recall that a very sophisticated national raffle
had been instituted, and vigorously promoted. Extremely expensive prizes were
negotiated at very reasonable costs to the Foundation, and offered to would be
supporters, however the major target market, the visitor to the island did not
buy into the project as was confidently anticipated by the participating hotel
chain and ourselves. Supportive response was realized from sections of corporate
Barbados and in particular from amongst the ‘Professional’ ………., but at the
crunch, and having once postponed the draw, we found that we could not make a
profit, and took the painful, but we believe correct, decision to cancel the
draw and refund the money to those who bought tickets at Bds$ 200 each, thus
preserving our credibility, and leaving open the unprejudiced prospect for a
future endeavour of similar nature.
The failure to raise the anticipated profits from that exercise is being
felt by the Foundation which has recently reengaged the special committee
previously set up, comprising your outgoing President, Mrs. Ros Jackson and
Professor Trevor Hassell to address the challenge of seeking core funding as a
mater of priority.
I anticipate that as we go forward, the new Board of the new entity, The
Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados Inc., will take on board this urgent
requirement and give it its fullest attention,
Ladies and Gentlemen, this brings to an end the final President’s report for
the year under review of the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados Inc. on this its
twenty-first anniversary. As we come to the end of this era [so to speak] I
would first wish to thank you the membership for inviting me to serve this
organisation as your President for the eleventh successive year, and to
especially thank my colleagues Professor Trevor Hassell, Lt. Col. Owen Springer,
Dr. Rowena Ahyee – Hallsworth, Mr. Ken de Suze, Mr. Everson Elcock, Mr.Eric
Layne, Mrs. Angela Emtage, Mrs. Rosalind Jackson, Dr. David Corbin and Dr. Brian
Charles who served on the Board of Directors during the year, for their
dedication and commitment.
As co-founder of the organisation, and a director over the last twenty-one
years I would wish to take the opportunity to express my own tremendous
satisfaction with the Foundation’s growth and development over the period, and
my pleasure at the prospects for the further expansion of the services we can
provide to our nation and beyond, in the cause of Heart & Stroke disease, its
care and avoidance, as we become this evening the Heart & Stroke Foundation of Barbados.
There are many persons who have given themselves to the development of the
Foundation over the twenty-one years, and although I will not necessarily call
to mind every one, I would wish on an occasion such as this to recognise the
contributions of former Directors such as Dr. Richard Ishmael, Mr Paul Worrell,
Ms. Terrese Gloumeau, and Mr. Carl Brown and the Late Jeremy Whitton who sat
with then Dr. Trevor Hassell, Mr.Ken De Suze and myself on the first Board; and
subsequent to that, Mrs. Isabelle Hutson, The late Mr. Herb Davis, Dr. Eddie De
C Inniss, Mrs. Merlese Sealy, Mr. Ken Brancker, Dr. Raana Naidu, Mr. Michael
Amory, Ms. Rosanne Beckles, Mr. Clyde Sobers, Mr. Jonathan Layne, Mr. Gerald
Nicholls, Dr. Peter Gaskin, Mr. Cortez Nurse [now Reverend], Mr John Knox, Dr.
Adrian Lorde, Dr. Stephen Moe, Dr. Colin Alert, and Mr. Dennis Kohke. These
ladies and gentlemen have all been an intergral part of the root and fabric of
this organisation, and on your and my own behalf I salute them and record our
deep appreciation.
Ladies and Gentlemen, I thank you.
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