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Heartline Magazine April - June 2005
20 years on - The Heart Foundation of Barbados marks important milestone.
By Tony Cumberbatch
After two decades of outstanding service to Barbados, and
indeed to the region, in the promotion of heart health and training, the Heart
Foundation of Barbados (HFOB) recently embarked on a strategy of “moving to the
next level”, transforming its operation from that of an essentially volunteer
based institution into a more business oriented one geared to meet the demands
of a challenging and complex marketplace. Important aspects of this strategy
included setting goals to provide the highest quality service and training,
developing a dynamic marketing plan and sourcing the funds to cover the
operating costs, as well as defining and detailing the institutions and
individuals that should be targeted.
Key to the plan was the quality and depth of the human
resources available to the Heart Foundation. As stated in his report to the
directors and members of the HFOB at the Annual General Meeting on Wednesday
March 23rd, 2005, the president Dru Symmonds SCM, J.P. said that the Board moved to
implement this strategy by the hiring of Adrian Randall as chief executive
officer, effective September 1st 2004. Mr.Symmonds noted that the new CEO is a
senior manager, highly qualified accountant and administrator, with wide
experience gained over 33 years with major organizations in the UK. His
experience in the area of fundraising and the management of large charity
institutions was also of particular interest to the Board, said Mr. Symmonds.
Another significant link in the re-organization, reported
Mr. Symmonds, was the recruitment of a HR and Administration Manager, Ms.
Stephanie Catling, as support for the CEO. Ms. Catling holds a Bsc degree in
human resource management.
Mr. Randall and his team hit the ground running, and the
success of their endeavours, together with a revitalization of internal
resources and efforts, has already been evidenced by the transformation of the
organization into one that is already being recognized as being one of the best
run institutions of its kind in the region.
The Heart Foundation of Barbados was born out of the shared
initiatives of The Lions Club Of Barbados South, through its Health and Social
Services Committee, then under the chairmanship of Mr. Symmonds, and Professor
Trevor Hassell, Cardiologist, who was at that time Head of the Department of
Medicine and of the Cardiac Unit at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Barbados.
Professor Hassell served as the first president and held the post for the first
ten years of the organization’s existence. He is currently president of the
InterAmerican Heart Foundation. Mr. Symmonds succeeded Prof. Hassell as
president in 1995, and has headed the Board of Directors of the HFOB over the
past ten years.
From inception, the Heart Foundation engaged in a public
education and awareness programme to inform people of the increasing problem of
heart disease in the society and what can be done to prevent or control it. This
included visits to schools, businesses and other institutions throughout the
parishes, discussing and sensitizing audiences of the need to develop heart
healthy practices in their daily lives.
From an early location in Haggatt Hall the Heart Foundation
moved to George Street, Belleville, in 1993, and finally in 1999 to its present
headquarters in Ladymeade Gardens, Jemmotts Lane, St. Michael, well appointed
with Offices, meeting room, fully outfitted gym and a training room. The
building was officially opened on 2nd August 2001 by then Minister of Health
Senator Philip Goddard.
The movement to larger and improved accommodation, and
consequent increases in staffing and resources saw development and expansion of
activities and programmes, also in the levels of training offered.
Two major initiatives have been the Cardiac Disease
Prevention and Rehabilitation (CDP&R) programme and the Emergency Cardiac Care (ECC)
Programme.
The CDP&R programme was started in 1994, and at the time was
conducted by Sean Hughes, the sole staff member of the HFOB. The programme
provides rehabilitation or prevention through regular, prescribed and monitored
exercise, dietary and psychological counselling and the education of persons who
have had heart surgery, a heart attack, heart failure or who are at special risk
of these conditions. In 1997 Mrs. Shirley Gill, a senior registered nurse, took
up the position of Manager of the programme, and today she heads a staff of 3
registered nurses, plus temporary personnel and volunteers. Each year between 60
to100 clients are referred to the programme by physicians.
The CDP&R programme also benefits significantly through the
provision of services free of cost by individuals and business, including
cholesterol testing by Spectrol Medical Laboratories, entry and exit treadmill
exercise tests by Cardiac Technical Services Ltd, and diet and nutrition
counseling by Beverley Stanford. Dr. Colin Alert is the honorary medical
director of the programme.
Dr. Brian Charles, Head of the Accident and Emergency
Department at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital is consultant to the ECC programme.
He is supported by a large team of volunteer instructors in providing training
in Basic Cardiac Life Support (BLS) to laypersons, health care providers and
medical students, and Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) to medical doctors
and other specially selected health care workers. A Heart Saver First Aid
programme provides training for the general public in the use of the Automated
External Defibrillator and general first aid. There is also an intensive
training course for medical, nursing and paramedic personnel on Paediatric
Advanced Life Support (PALS). All the training courses under this programme are
supported by the American Heart Association (AHA) through the use of approved
training manuals and the award of AHA certificates.
Recent major training conducted under the ECC programme
includes training in BLS and first aid to 120 Port workers and mass training in
HeartSaver First Aid to 171 persons. The inaugural PALS course in February 2005
saw attendees from Jamaica as well as doctors and nurses from Barbados
instructed in ACLS and PALS.
Currently ongoing is training of over 100 nurses from the
Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Basic Cardiac Life Support-Health Care Provider (BLS-HCP)
and 7 nurses in Advanced Cardiac Life Support.
Another important section of the HFOB is the Cardiac Support
Group (CSG). Under the chairmanship of Mrs. Angela Emtage the CSG, which is now
in its sixth year, comprises persons who have themselves had cardiac procedures
and now provide valuable pre and post operation counseling to heart patients who
undergo similar surgical interventions, as well as to their families.
Many of Barbados’ leading doctors and business people donate
their time, knowledge and resources to the work of the Foundation. Some
businesses that have contributed significantly with funding and resources are
The Barbados National Bank, Cable & Wireless (Barbados) Ltd., Ernst & Young,
Lasco (Barbados) Ltd., Stokes & Bynoe Ltd., Collins Ltd., Cingular Wireless,
Spectrol Medical Laboratories and Cardiac Technical Services Ltd. These, along
with others, have given critical support to the HFOB’s programmes over the
years.
While looking back on the achievements of the HFOB with a
measure of pride, Mr. Randall and his team are busy planning and implementing an
exciting schedule of programmes and activities that will take the organization
forward. These include fundraisers, Bingo at Sherbourne Centre on June 2nd., and
a major raffle, to be drawn on October 31st2005, with a first prize of a BMW 5
series fully loaded saloon. As usual, the HFOB participated in the Nation’s
Healthy Lifestyles Extravaganza in Queen’s Park on Sunday 10th April, and it was
pleasing to see the steady stream of people who visited the tent for blood
pressure checks and advice.
A weekly interview series is on-going on CBC TV’s Chat Room,
where members and associates are able to promote the activities of the HFOB.
Also on-going is a survey on Barbadians’ knowledge, attitudes and practices (KAPS)
of heart disease risks.
Coming up on July 7th is the HFOB’s Healthy Lifestyles
seminar for business executives at Sherbourne Centre, this year under the theme
“Get Fit for Business,’ and in August the “get fit” theme is continued with the
HFOB’s sponsorship in association with the Skipping Association of Barbados of
the programme, “Get Barbados Skipping”.
The 4th Annual Caribbean Conference on Emergency Cardiac
Care will be held in Barbados from the 17th to 19th of June, 2005 at the Grand
Barbados Beach Resort Hotel. It will be hosted by The Heart Foundation of
Barbados together with the American Heart Association and the InterAmerican
Heart Foundation. This important event will bring together doctors, nurses,
paramedics, medical and nursing students and other emergency care practitioners
from throughout the Caribbean in an initiative aimed at improving training and
practice of health care in the field of resuscitation and intensive care.
The conference has a website: www.barbadosecc.org
Plans are also in train for the re-launch of the Healthy
Hearts Club, this time around in the primary schools.
From just 2 volunteers at its inception, Cynthia Dahlia and
Peggy Inniss, to a current paid staff of 9, plus a number of temporary staff,
and a large cadre of volunteers and supporting businesses, the Heart Foundation
of Barbados has come a long way, and can look to an exciting future with
anticipation of further meaningful development, always keeping in mind its misson to: “Keep people heart healthy and reduce suffering and death from
cardiovascular disease”
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