"Pocket Rocket": last time I sort of instantly assessed a person with that moniker was when I watched a DVD with Italian Super Mezzo Soprano Cecilia Bartoli singing the female title role in The Barber of Seville... No, Sabrina did not sing (even though it would not surprise me if she was quite good at that as well) but presented a hugely enthusiastic picture of her organization, the Gold Coast Hospital Foundation. Despite the huge sums being spent by Governments of various levels and persuasion in Health Costs, there is always a lot that remains unfunded. Vital medical equipment, for example a Mac Video Laryngoscope (no, I didn't know either what it was or what it is being used for, so, click on this link to find out if you like ☺).They need 'Hospital Spaces' such as Family Rooms to be furnished with TV, nice furniture, some pictures to make the wait for the patient's loved ones a bit more bearable. they need volunteers for Patient Transport. Over the past 12 months, some ten thousand trips were made, travelling 80,000 Km (yes, twice around the earth). 800 patients who have no access or are unable to use public transport take advantage of an 8-seater bus. There is Family Emergency Accommodation, there is research, education.
The foundation has a substantial wish list: for example, an Infant Weighing Scale ($390.00), a Tilt in Space Wheelchair ($4,950.00), a ROTEM Testing device for th Robina Hospital ($35,950.00). Might sound like a lot of money, Sabrina outlined, but if 20 Rotary Clubs were to contribute $1,798 each...
Later on, Sabrian outlined the details of the Gold Coast Hospital to our visitors from Latvia, Dr Dainis and Egija Sirovs (see bulletin of two weeks ago). Picture by Al Sirovs.