News Briefs

World First Aid Day
With the theme of ‘First Aid and Vulnerability’ the Cook Islands on Friday celebrated the annual Red Cross ‘World First Aid Day’ movement. The event, which was hosted by Cook Islands Red Cross Society, included the participation and support of Ministry of Health, Fire and Safety Cook Islands, Cook Islands Sporting Academy (CISA), Titikaveka College, Avatea Primary School and local banks where each group were trialed and judged over a series of different exemplar accident and emergency situations, also giving them a brush up on their first aid skills.
Positioned in a sequence of tents and stations, students had generously donated limbs for the annual event to stage gory wounds where each participating group faced a different situation ranging from primary assessment, bleeding, CPR, secondary assessment to head and spine injuries to fracture casualties. Judged in accuracy and competence groups were given a maximum 10 minutes to asses and manage each individual situation before continuing.
“The benefit of this is that the scenario is put in a manner to reflect the vulnerability of the person in need,” says Charlie Numanga of Cook Islands Red Cross. -By Maria Tanner

Maggie here for 20th time

Dr Margaret (Maggie) Boden OBE, is making her 20th visit to Rarotonga and the Times caught up with her on Friday morning when she called at the Ministry for Cultural Development to meet up with old friends Liz Ponga and Mahiriki Tangaroa.
Maggie first visited Rarotonga in 1993 at the suggestion of Papa Ron Crocombe whom she met in Fiji.
Maggie, a Research Professor in Cognitive Science at the University of Sussex’s School of Engineering and Information in the UK, is now semi-retired.
Her main topic of interest has been artificial intelligence and the philosophy of creativity.
She is an internationally acclaimed author having written some six books. She is well known for her book “Artificial Intelligence and Natural Man” which was published in 1977 when it was one of the first books written on the topic. She received many invitations to speak overseas on the topic. Her invitation to India revealed India to be the only country to question the social impact of artificial intelligence. In India she did 20 lectures in 12 cities. She was very impressed with India and returned 10 times.
Maggie said she had always been fascinated by the human mind. She had intended to be a Psychiatrist and while waiting to go to medical school decided to study philosophy. Her career direction changed when she was offered a lectureship in Philosophy at Birmingham University. She then developed an interest in artificial intelligence.
Some of her notable books are “The Creative Mind,” published in 1990, updated in 2004 and “The History of Cognitive Science,” published in two volumes in 2006.
She has a soft covered book going to print when she returns home called,”Creativity and Art,” which she has dedicated to Papa Ron Crocombe as he passed away just before it was originally going to print.
Maggie has traveled world -wide but says she loves “Polynesia.”
She likes Cook Islanders because they take you as they find you. They are beautiful says Maggie.
She leaves in two weeks time. -Charles Pitt

No word yet from MOIP on water shortages
Many homes in Tupapa are reporting that they have very low water pressure. Some of the homes have had no water for four days meaning residents have not been able to bathe/shower or have water for their toilets or for drinking. When contacted on Friday afternoon, the Water Division of MOIP advised that water reservoirs were low and that their workers were keeping the intakes clear. The Water Division has issued no public notices to inform residents to conserve water let alone alert residents to the seriousness of the situation.

Family safety and women’s health to be subject of study

Government has announced a plan to carry out a nation- wide study into the size and scope of family safety and women’s health, in order that it can provide adequate services and implement relevant policies that will reduce incidences of risks in the lives of our women and children.
Any activity or condition that affects the health and human rights of our women and families is an important issue for our society. Health and human rights may be affected by the way women and their children are treated in the household and this study aims to understand the status of our women in their homes. Any serious consequences on women’s health and well-being and on that of their families and community will help us to understand and thereby take action to assist in improving their status in the home and in society.
The study starts 15th October beginning with the training of interviewers, supervisors and data entry personnel and then into the field for about three months before wrapping up and drawing up the results in the New Year.
The Ministry of Health will work with the Ministry of Internal Affairs/and the Cook Islands National Council of Women.
The UN Population Fund (UNFPA) has been kind to support this collaborative effort with technical and financial resources from Australia.
The objectives include:
• To obtain reliable estimates of the prevalence, frequency and types of women and family health and safety issues
• To document the association between forms of family safety issues and health outcomes
• To identify and compare risk and protective factors

Headlines : Times 290 02 March 2009
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