A former New Zealand High Commissioner to the Cook Islands says a new mobile health clinic for Rarotonga has been designed for use in disasters.
Kaveinga Ora will begin replacing the island’s 27 medical centres this week as it starts service for the island’s 13,000 people.
The project is the result of two years’ work by Rotary clubs in New Zealand, Rarotonga and worldwide as well as the Health Ministry.
The retired diplomat, Nick Hurley, had been in Rarotonga for the service’s launch that his wife Christine helped instigate.
He said the health clinic was designed for the island’s conditions:”They used a number of specialists for things like making it able to be used in times of natural disasters.
“So it could operate three days without any external power with air-conditioning, or five days without.
“It could still operate with refrigerated space in there for people who might be needing urgent attention.”
The ministry’s health promotion manager, Karen Tairea, has been involved in developing the scope of the project.
She said that, when needed, they consulted other health staff who had knowledge and experience about any particular topic they were discussing.
“With the clinical side, we had the public health nurses because they would be the main users of the bus so they were able to say what equipment they needed.”
She said hospital health services contributed, as the bus would also be used for health drives including blood donations and cervical cancer screening.
Source
- msn.com
- radionz.co.nz
- Image: facebook
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