[News Boquete] October Boquete Health and Hospice Newsletter

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Table of Contents: •  Filling a Critical Need •  Letter from our President •  Save the Date •  Gift of Life Blood Drive •  Being Prepared •  Blood Donor Alert •  Tree of Life Update •  Our Mission Filling a Critical Need for Our Community Boquete Health and Hospice maintains a small fleet of oxygen concentrators, both in home and portable, to provide short-term assistance to expats and Panamanians in the Boquete District. The availability of these units in Chiriqui is extremely limited and can be very costly, even for short periods. To meet that need Boquete Health and Hospice provides oxygen concentrators for patient coming home with severe lung or heart problems that require continuous oxygen.    On average Boquete Health and Hospice has six to ten oxygen concentrators placed in the community for those in need. While these units are pretty sturdy they are frequently stressed by the fluctuations in power, both high and low, that regularly occur in the district. Because of this stress our units last only one to two years of continuous use and sometimes shorter. Boquete Health and Hospice must regularly buy additional machines from the United States and have them shipped down to Panama in an effort to keep a sufficient number of oxygen concentrators to meet the requests from the community. Just this week we purchased four more concentrators so that they could come in a container of medical equipment paid for by the Thomas McCormack Foundation. Thank you Tom for the lift!!   Boquete Health and Hospice must also buy disposable oxygen products to provide a connection from the concentrator to the patient. These are one-time use and must be replaced for the next patient.    On an average Boquete Health and Hospice will spend approximately $3,000 to $5,000 per year to continue to provide this valuable service to our community. Your donations are critical to assure that the ongoing need for oxygen in the home, at no cost to the patient or family.  This service is available in the short-term until other arrangements can be made or the patient no longer has a need.    Thank you for your donation!!!! Letter from Our President Panama Health and Respite Foundation It is with a heavy heart (but also an extremely grateful heart) that I report that our sister Hospice organization in Panama (Panama Health and Respite Foundation) located in Coronado has decided to cease its activities.  It was reported that there were difficulties recruiting and keeping volunteers.  As part of the disbanding, they have donated to Boquete Health and Hospice $2,500.00, as well as some equipment.  They even offered to donate some of their music to our new Music Program.  We are extremely sorry to see them go, but are so touched that they thought of helping us.  They have our best wishes for the future. We Are Back!! BHH has returned to the Tuesday Market at TapOut.  Barbara L. is presiding over our table there, answering questions, providing our Being Prepared guides and our purple bags.  Due to the MINSA restrictions, we are not able to offer the Blood Pressure service as before.  Please look for us and stop by to say "Hi".   First Aid Class Boquete Health and Hospice held their first Basic First Aid class on Oct. 21 at Valle Escondido.  8 members of the community were in attendance.  These wonderful people are all members of the Health Committee and have committed to being available to help those residents who need emergency care until the ambulance arrives.   MINSA guidelines were strictly observed.  Temperatures were checked, masks and alcohol gel were used and social distancing was observed.  General information for medical emergencies (cardiac issues, strokes and diabetes) were covered as was basic trauma care.  The medical equipment available in the medical bags was reviewed.  Valle Escondido has two well-stocked medical bags that should enable care to be rendered until the ambulance arrives, possibly saving lives.  Then the group worked on "What would you do" scenarios to get them thinking about what to do when an emergency occurs.   The Valle Escondido Homeowners Association very generously donated $100 to BHH. Photos of the class were taken by Rod Parker.   Donations Over the last few weeks, BHH has been the recipient of several donations from businesses and organizations.  These will be shown on our Tree of Life as flowers, separate from the leaves. Being Prepared Our wonderful guides are now available in three locations – as a PDF file (for a minimum $5.00 donation via PayPal on our website), from MBE as a hard copy and from the Tuesday Market at TapOut as a hard copy.  The hard copies are available for a minimum donation of $10.00   It is time well spent to read the guide and complete the forms.  No one knows when an emergency or illness will strike and having this information available will make a terrible situation slightly less stressful.  Save the Date Notice No, not a wedding, but the very first BCP Community Chat featuring us!  Boquete Health and Hospice! We're very honored to be the first Boquete Charity to be featured in the new BCP Community Chats to be held in the Boquete Library. Called "First Aid at Home", our presentation will focus on how you can recognize and provide first aid to an injured friend or loved-one with just the things you have around the house. Seating is limited to 25 and reservations will be required. More information on how to sign up for this valuable training session will be coming soon but mark your calendars now. If we fill up, we will hold another BCP Community Chat Training for BH&H members and the Boquete Community Event:  First Aid at Home Date:  November 19 Location:  Boquete Library - Top Floor Time:  11:00 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Topic: How to Recognize an Emergency and What to Do About It. Diabetes Heart Attacks Strokes Respiratory Issues Falls Fractures Burns Presenters:     Merl Will-Wallace     Lesley Hughes Only 25 spaces are available.  Reservation information will be available soon.   MINSA GUIDELINES WILL BE STRICTLY FOLLOWED.  MASKS MUST BE WORN AT ALL TIMES.  SOCIAL DISTANCING WILL BE OBSERVED.  ALCOHOL GEL WILL BE AVAILABLE.  TEMPERATURES WILL BE TAKEN.   Get Your PDF Guide - Donate

Click Here to Enlarge Tree Many Thanks to Our Recent Donors Panama Health and Respite Foundation  Gomez Tomiczek Law Firm Patricia Price Peterson Foundation (Penny Barrett) Valle Escondido Homeowners Association Tom and Linda McCormack Foundation

Our Mission Our mission is to provide palliative care for the terminally ill in order that they may experience death with dignity and limited pain; to inform and promote community health; and, to support people with health and wellness needs by providing information, equipment and volunteer services.   To Make a Donation  BHHF functions with donations provided by the community. If you are interested in supporting the work we do, please make a donation. To make a financial contribution by check or cash contact Merl Will-Wallace,our treasurer,at dharma49@icloud.com to arrange a time and place to pick up your donation. You can also click here to make an online Paypal donation. For more information visit our website: http://www.boquetehealth.org We also have a Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/boqueteheartshandsandhelp/?ref=bookmarks  Please Like our page and share the contents with your family and friends.   Confidentiality All patient information shared with any Boquete Health and Hospice volunteer is kept in the strictest confidence. To Contact Us   Hospice/Health:  (507) 6781-9250 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday,  9am to 1pm Saturday and Sunday    Please!  Blood Donor Program:  WhatApp (507)-6590-2000 or call (507)-6781-9250 8am to 5pm Monday to Friday,  9am to 1pm Saturday and Sunday, Please. Email:  info@boquetehealth.org   Freely send this to anyone, use any part. Our mailing address is: info@boquetehealth.org

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