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The Huron Expositor, 1998-09-02, Page 13Foundation presents $95,000 cardiac monitor to hospital Next campaign to raise funds for ultrasound Patients can move more freely in the hospital and still he well - monitored at the nursing station with a new cardiac monitoring system that's in place. Through the community. the Seaforth Community Hospital Foundation was ahle to raise $95.000 to purchase the machine. The monitor at the nursing station displays the puke. temperature. blood pressure and other details of a patients status and allows several patients to he monitored at once. Marlen Vincent. chair of the foundation. said the equipment is- state of the art and comparable to monitors used in London hospitals. It is expected to help nurses and physicians ,detect problems. that require urgent treatment. A telemetry unit alloys the patient to move around within a limited range of the nurses station and still he fully monitored. This was the first major purchase by the foundation which formed in 1995 to be a fund raising arm of the Seaforth Community Hospital, to receive and maintain donations and to make gifts or grants to the hospital. Vincent said the residents of Seaforth and the surrounding area were generous in their financial support of the cardiac monitoring- system. The foundation's next project is new ultrasound equipment at an expected cost of about $150,000. While only eight years old. the hospital's current equipment is already Marten Vincent of the Hospital Foundation, nursing staff Judy Lamont, Kay Mailloux, Janice Leonhardt and departing administrator, Bill Thibert are pleased to have a cardiac monitoring system in place wrapping up the first major project of the foundation. HILGENDORFF PHOTO considered out -dated by changing technology and replacement parts for repairs will soon he difficult to find. .A letter campaign asking for a gift to the foundation at equipment time is being coordinated by the toundation.irnilar to a campaign launched for the cardiac equipment. Why: I shop locally 1) the convenience, most of what I need is here 2) the courtesy, the staff of the businesses are helpful 3) the timing, mostlyno line-ups, I don't have to wait to pay 4) the personal touch, I know most of the people, they know me 5) the willingness, if they don't have it, they are willing to get it 6) the pricing, most of what I buy is reasonably priced 7) the profit, I know when I shop in Seaforth, I'm helping - I'm helping 1) to keep my neighbours employed 2) to keep the businesses in business 3) to keep the our Main Street viable 4) to keep the convenience 5) to keep the courtesy 6) to keep the time savings 7) to keep the personal touch 8) to keep the willingness to be helpful 9) to keep the pricing 10) to keep the profit, because without it there would not be a Main Street I shop in Seaforth to keep the Quality of Life 1 have learned to enjoy. THE HURON EXPOSITOR, sIPTEMSER 2, 11195-13 Little preparation time left to be ready for computer crashes BY AMY NEILANDS Special to The Expositor situation will turn out to be the second ,costliest disaster faced by the world. The estimated -cost is $600 billion. Complicated rewriting of programs that took more than 20 years to create is hcing required within a little more than a year. "With what's being done now, Canada is far from prepared." said Bokout. "It's not jsut the government. The biggest problem is that many smaller businesses arc not aware of what's happening." Thcrc arc less than 67 weeks to fix the prohlcm and most people have not even started to worry about it, said Bokout. Shawn Clark recommended that small businesses and homeowners start as soon as possible. The first step that can he taken, he explained, is to assess all direct dependencies and to take an inventory of all equipment that has a computer chip. Once this has been done, he recommended that an assessment should he taken of those that arc at a real risk of the hug and to contact the vendors to find out if they are compliant or not. If you are ready, he said, then contact customers and suppliers to convince them of the severity of the prohlcm. The next step is to assess. the indirect dependencies such as hyrdro, hanks and telephones. Write a letter to these companies and ask for written proffe that they are ready for the Year 2000, said Clark. When new computer equipment is purchased. 'a written gurantee should he given that it is 2000. compliant. If all systems crash on' January 1, 2000, it is recommended that enough money to live on for one month be set aside in case of a problem. said Bokout. "It's hard to know exactly how serious this is going to be," she said. "We are very connected now in our lives and we don't realize it. If the lines fail, then we will he stranded." The year 2000 is approaching quickly. Are you ready? Microwaves, VCRs, thermostats, telephones, hank machines, cars, farm technology and anything containing a computer chip will he affected by the Millenium hug and will directly or indirectly affect almost every person in the world. Thc Clinton Library hosted an information session on the Year 2000 problem, presented by the Community Access Program. last week. The prohlcm- stems from the days when computers were huge metal structures that filled whole rooms, said Rachel Bokhout of CAP. Memory was- precious at thc time, she added. that to save two kites of memory. thc first two numbers of the date's year were taken off. When the year 2000 rolls around. she explained, thc computers will have 00 as the dates and they may think it is the year 1900. Pensions. welfare and other government funding are all calculated by dates. "Our whole safety net could he thrown out of whack." Bokhout said. Brent Thomas, from thc program, explained that there arc more than 25 billion computer chips in the world, that arc non- compliant to the Year 200(1 prohlcm and. "We don't know where they all arc." Thomas said while a lot of jobs are being created by the Year 2000 problem, a lot more will be affected by it. To name a few. construction workers will have problems ordering supplies, mechanics will face a large number of car system failures and receptionists will find phones failing. "There is a lot of preparation that_ has to he done for the Year 2000,". said Thomas. He added that six hanks in Canada are working- on• the problem and one claims it is compliant. But to get all computer systems updated and compliant and to fix the possible break downs, the The Champion Showperson at the Clinforth 4-H Dairy Club's Aug. 14 Achievement Day at the Seaforth Agricultural Society Fairgrounds was Thomas Deuschle of Clinton. Reserve Champion Showperson. was Carolyn Miller of Varna. The Champion Calf at the Clkiforth 4-H Dairy Club's Aug. 14 Achievement Day was shown by Carolyn Miller (right). Reserve Champion Calf was shown by Melissa Sperling of Vama.