FRIDAY DECEMBER 26 2014 VOL. 41, NO. 50
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For the love of the Cove
Guest editorial by Ron Woodall
Even on Bowen
Addressing isolation during the holiday season
A cook’s kitchen
Becky Dawson on best utensils and her biggest culinary influences
Saving lives in 2015 Now that we have more AEDs
on-island, the Municipal Emergency Planning Co-ordinator says they need to be registered MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
The stars of the Bowen Island United Church Christmas Pageant. Front row from left: Bernice Lever, unknown, Don Nicholson, Lilliana Belluck-Orlikow, Sophie Walters, Ellie Walters, Katie Parker, Abbey Walters. Back row: Nicholas Belluk, Lois Belluk, Maggie Menzies, Helen Wallwork. Donkies are Fredo and Sonny. Lorraine Ashdown, photo
Belterra comes alive just in time for Christmas MERIBETH DEEN EDITOR
There are still dirt roads, pieces of heavy machinery and on weekdays, up to sixty construction workers on the Belterra site, but there are now actual residents of Bowen’s first co-housing development. The Yamashita family has moved four times since departing their last “home” in July. The family of five couldn’t find a place to live on Bowen in the summer, so found two temporary accommodations on the mainland until September, when they had to be here for the kids to start school. Since then, they’ve lived at Artisan Square and Miller’s Landing. The family’s 1200 square foot, three bedroom unit is not a COAST MODERN FURNISHINGS R001937480 BI03
“downsize” for the family, whose last home was 1000 square feet, but with three kids, a dog, musical instruments, toys and a miniature trampoline, it appears tiny. “I am thrilled with the storage, especially in the kitchen,” say Carmen Yamashita, pointing to the pantry, the island, and the cupboards that stretch all the way to the ceiling. “But I expect as we unpack, we’ll be downsizing a lot, getting rid of a lot more stuff.” For Katy Michener, one of the other new occupants to Belterra, the move to a 706 square foot one bedroom unit is a huge move. “I was renting a three bedroom, two story house, and this is absolutely wonderful,” says Michener. “And I love it because this is mine, and I am paying less in mortgage payments now than I was in rent.” continued, PAGE 2
In the past year, the number of Automatic External Defibrillators (AEDs) on Bowen Island has exploded, and with that, the chances that someone who’s heart has stopped will have a second chance at life have also increased dramatically. The Municipality’s Emergency Planning Co-Ordinator, Amanda Ockeloen, says there are now at least fifteen AED’s on-island, and she’s hoping that the owners of these lifesaving devices will register them with the BC Emergency Health Service’s (BCEHS) provincial database for AEDs. “I had been planning to create some kind of map, showing where all the AED’s are on the island,” says Ockeloen. “But I couldn’t figure out where the map should go, in order to be most accessible to people who find themselves in an emergency situation. This database really makes a lot of sense, and will work better than a map.” The BC AED registry will be integrated into the Computer Aided Dispatch system used by dispatchers to direct emergency services throughout the provinces. The dispatchers can advise callers of the closest AED, and provide instructions on how to use it until paramedics arrive. On Bowen, one life has already been saved because of an AED. In August, the RCMP responded to a call about a man in full cardiac arrest on the Government Dock. A doctor and nurse were performing CPR on the man, and Constable Brian Mulrooney brought an AED within three minutes of recieving the call. The man survived and was airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital. In these situations, the use of an AED is said to greatly increase the chances of survival over Cardiopulmonary recusitation (CPR) alone. Ockeloen says that while she is very pleased to see that the life-saving devices are much more accessible on Bowen than they were a year ago, she would still like to see them available on some parts of the island including Tunstall Bay, Bluewater, and Hood Point. She also says that more people need to get trained on using AEDs, and this requires just four hours at a CPR/AED First Aid course.
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