Sosua Expats Collecting Emergency Information

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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The recent death of Bea Garcia and the lack of knowledge regarding next of kin, etc., has prompted an effort in Sosua to collect emergency information on the expats here. Angie Wolff of Sosua Business Services has agreed to be the collection point. The info being collected for each expat is Next of Kin, Who to Contact, and Blood Type. The latter will be of obvious benefit if one of us should require a transfusion at some time from a reliable doner or doners.

Sosua expats desiring to have their information included should bring it to Angie at Sosua Business Services. Barbara and I will be participating, and very glad to know this information is collected locally. We are recorded at the Embassy, but local people are more certain to know if something bad happens to one or both of us than is the Embassy.

Expats in Cabarete and other communities might want to consider doing the same, if you aren't already.
 

Peter & Alex

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May 3, 2003
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Ken,
Great idea, but those of us who have been professional expats for years have already done this via our closest friends locally. We call each other daily to check that those of us alone are still surviving - and if not (?) then we know who to call.
We also have a "Death Box" as we like to call it! This is details of all our local bank, finance, contacts, property, belongings, wills, insurances, etc. Details which an executor who has never been to the DR would need to know and this is deposited in our home country with next of kin and a lawyer. We update it whenever stuff changes.
So your idea is a good one as we are constantly amazed at how many people never bother!!
Are we the exception? (Must have been all those years earning the Queen's shilling and Alex's years with the Foreign Office that got us organised)!
Peter
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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I know most people have given the info to a close friend or two. But what I especially like about what is being done in Sosua is the size of the pool of blood type info. If one of us is involved in a serious accident, or needs blood for any reason, having this info in a central location, with, hopefully, a sizeable pool of potential donors, could make the difference between life, death, or AIDS from an unknown donor.
 

JanH

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Dec 26, 2002
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Ken - I think it would be a good idea for ANY of us who travel to DR routinely. If something were to happen to Doug and me, I'd want someone to know our blood type, DR legal and US family contacts. Dean would know most of this but may not always be around.
 

Kiteman

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How Much?

If you don't have nothing of any use to add, don't!

What do they say? It's nice to be nice...
 
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Ken

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JanH, I agree with you. There is a very large number of property owners who spend only part time here. Personally, I think you should be included. I am going to discuss this with Angie. She is not chairing this, only serving as collection point because she has a business on main street that we all pass by frequently, but she is the only contact person I have at this point. This is one of those things that got started when an obvious need developed and will take shape as it proceeds.

Kiteman, you are way off base. If you have issues with Angie or EPS, take them up with her.

This effort is community, is not an EPS activity.

Regarding your use of EPS, that must have been your choice. At least I have not heard of a law requiring someone uphappy with EPS to stay with it for 10 years rather than use the regular mail or one of the other courrier services.
 

Ken

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More About Emergency Info Project

The committee that is getting the ball rolling on the Sosua Emergency Information project is moving right along. A brochure and information-collection form is being prepared and may be ready for distribution as early as the end of this week. I'll post updates on this project in this thread during the coming days, starting with the following:

1. The project is not being limited just to Sosua. Cabarete residents are also welcome to participate. The larger the group the better, especially with respect to the pool of potential blood donors.

2. Both part-time and full-time residents of Sosua and Cabarete are eligible to participate.

3. It is not necessary to be a foreigner to be included. Dominicans who feel alone, for example, are also encouraged to join in. This is a community-based effort, not just the foreign community.

4. It is contemplated that once this project is fully off the ground that area doctors and medical facilities will be made aware of it and asked to contact a representative of the group if they have someone in their care who might be part of the group and whose condition makes it desirable for friends/family to be aware of it.

The impetus, as I mentioned in my first post, for this project was the sad death of Bea Garcia. Sad, because she died completely alone. But from that is coming this project that should provide a really valuable resource for the greater Sosua-Cabarete area.
 

Kiteman

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Aug 25, 2002
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Ok, let me try to be more Politically Correct.

Since Sousa Business Services is not known to be especially altruistic, will there be any fee or charge for this service. Thank you and I hope I did not offend anyone with my question.
 

Paul Thate

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Jan 11, 2002
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hey Kiteman

no need to be politicly correct.
we all know what rip of artist they are ( EPS - ANGIE)
Infact I never ever heard a positive story about them.
and probably they will charge us just for opening the door,
it is always correct to warn people , thats what we are here for.
that we all may benifit from the experiences of others.
Kens critisism of you was unfair ,actually he was of base.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Kiteman and Paul, obviously you have issues with Angie and EPS and find it impossible to look beyond them. But that is your problem, not mine.

Even if this were an EPS project, which it isn't, and even if there were a charge, which there isn't, I would think it a hell of a good idea and promote it to my friends and acquaintances. Those who didn't think it a good idea or didn't want to pay the fee would be free not to participate. Like anything else, including the EPS mail service, they would have to decide whether it worth the charge. If not, don't pay. But if you pay, then don't bitch because it was your decision.

THE SOSUSA/CABARETE EMERGENCY INFORMATION PROJECT is a community project intended to meet a need that I believe most who live here agree exists. In the event something bad happens to one of us, the information collected will enable others to quickly notify those we designate of our situation, and if blood is needed for any reason, help us to quickly get it from other local residents who, in my opinion, are much more desirable donors than whoever is filling the blood containers in the hospital blood banks.

This is a community project, not a commercial project. Angie Wolff and a number of other local business people are participating, but as residents. EPS has been designated a collection point for information because it is a known business in a known location, and many of us pass by frequently. Better there than the home of some participant in a location many of us are not familiar with.

Work has started on the preparation of a brochure and a form for collecting the information. It is presently anticipated that these materials will be ready for distribution at the end of this week or sometime next week. The big job will be to let people in this area know that this community service is now available and to get the brochures and blank forms to them.

This project is not just for the benefit of expats living here year around. It is also for the great many foreign home/apartment owners who spend only part of the year in Sosua/Cabarete. They have the same needs as do the permanent residents in case something bad happens to them while here. Dominican residents of Sosua/Cabarete who feel alone, lacking the large family organization that most have, are also welcome to participate.

KITEMAN AND PAUL, I would appreciate not having you respond with any reference to EPS. This thread is not about EPS but about the Sosua/Cabarete Emerency Information Project.
 

Escott

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Jan 14, 2002
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Yes Ken are you making 10% on everyone you get involved in this project? This question now begs to be asked. So many people have said this.

I know 10% of no fee isn't a lot but you sure are working very hard at it. Maybe you can make it up in volume?

I would love to see whatever you have. I am pretty well connected to my family in the States but what if they just DON'T know? Maybe in a few weeks when I stop responding to Email?

Who in Sosua has my family's phone numbers? Come to think of it I don't think that anyone has it in the DR.

On a side note, when I travel they ask for a US number to contact in case of emergency in the last year. You know my sense of humor, right? I give my ex wifes! We actually get along real well but I still have the need to piss her off one final time!
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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Escott said:
Yes Ken are you making 10% on everyone you get involved in this project? This question now begs to be asked. So many people have said this.

I know 10% of no fee isn't a lot but you sure are working very hard at it. Maybe you can make it up in volume?

My pay off will come when Barbara or I need a blood transfusion and the pool of potential donors is large enough to insure that we get it.
 

Kiteman

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Aug 25, 2002
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Thank you Ken for your reply.

You had not, in fact, mentioned previously that there would be no charge for this service. You were simply mistaken when you said that it was "already answered". As for my relationship with Sosua Business Services, I mentioned that I have "known" them for over a decade, not that I use them. Your obvious anger at my post apparently led you to assume a particluar situation that in fact doesn't exist. However, knowing them as I do, it is a very valid question to ask if they will charge for being the point of contact, as many who have lived here for a while will attest (see Paul's post). As for your information database, I believe your heart is in the right place but your plan is poorly thought out. How will you screen the blood donors? How frequent will be the screening? Who will do the screening? Are you willing to accept the liability for diseases transmitted through tranfusions arranged through your database? etc, etc. You should definitely talk to Mr. Guzman before you proceed in a hasty manner. As for notification of family, etc., usually this is performed by the consulate of the persons country of origin. Anyone who is concerned with this type of problem should register with their embassy and keep this data updated. A friend of mine had a serious motorcycle accident several years ago in La Vega. The police found he was american from his cedula (which also states your blood type, FYI), contacted the US Embassy(who had his data on file) who in turn contacted his family in the states. His family was with him before most of his friends in Cabarete were aware he was hurt (he recovered fully and still rides a motercycle!?) My point is that you are trying to replicate systems that are all ready in place.
I think that you should spend a little more time to thinking about your plan and perhaps, on a personal note, try to work on your anger issues.
 

Ken

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Kiteman, I agree there is a lot to think through.

Regarding blood donors, the intention, I believe, is to collect blood types so that other residents with same type blood can be contacted in the event a donation is needed. This is better and faster, in my opinion, than trying to put out the word that someone is in trouble and needs blood.

If I were in urgent need of blood, I think I would rather take my chances with blood from other foreign residents of Sosua/Cabarete than on the blood collected from unknown donors from the barrios of Santo Domingo and elsewhere. I would also like to be sure that a supply of blood is even available.

This is not the first time I have heard of a group providing mutual assistance to others also willing to contribute when needed.

I am aware that you can register with the US Embassy, and have done so. But I am also going to participate in the Sosua/Cabarete group because I think that people here are going to hear sooner and be able to react sooner than is an employee in the Consulate in Santo Domingo. To me, duplication is far better than slipping through a crack.

The impetus for this project was the recent death of Bea Garcia in Cento Medico Bournigal. She had lived in Sosua for a great many years and was a familiar figure on the streets. Almost everyone here knew her, at least by sight. She suffered a heart attack, was taken to the hospital in Puerto Plata, spent a couple of days in a coma, then died all alone. Nobody knew she was in the hospital, except the local doctor that sent her to the hospital, and she didn't have any idea of who to contact. This caused some to think that we should have some means to provide support for those living here, far from the formal and informal support groups that are available in our home countries.

Finally, participation in this group is volunatary. Those who feel their needs are already well covered in other ways can choose not to participate. I plan to participate because, even though I am registered at the US Embassy, I can envision a time when I might need, and welcome, all the local assistance/support I can get.
 
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JanH

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Dec 26, 2002
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Ken - Was Bea that older woman that lived there alone and was from Canada or Washington State? She lived in the back of one of the bars?

One logistic issue is needing to carry something on our persons at all times for the emergency notification. I guess maybe paperclip some laminated card to our Passports about the database and a few cell phone numbers.

At least, we part-time people would need something like that. Otherwise, how would the police know about the Community Project if we are laying unconscious from a bad wreck?

You may not know this, but my family has your and Dean's phone numbers, but I should give YOU their phone numbers. I'll PM you.
 

Ken

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Jan 1, 2002
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The idea of some sort of ID makes sense and is something I have been thinking about myself. The subject is well worth considering.

One thing the committe has talked about is contact area doctors and letting them know once the group is formed so that they will have someone to contact if they have a patient they believe needs community support.

One of the realities of living here is that there are not the emergency services you get accustomed to in your own country. Your reference to a policeman at an accident scene is a good example. More likely is that a passerby will pick you up and carry you in his van or back of his pickup truck to the nearest medical facility.

All this has really got me thinking about how prepared I am in the event of an emergency. I think all I have in my wallet is my cedula which has my residence address on it. Who knows how long it would take to get word to someone if anything happened to me when away from home. If nothing else, I am going to take steps to improve on the identification that I carry. If this were a nice laminated card it would be great, and worth paying to have made. But I do need to have more than I have right now.
 

Ken

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Additional Information about Proposed Community Support Group

This project is still very much in the development stage, and as it moves along, new avenues where support is needed are being identified. Although notification of next of kin, a source of blood for those needing transfusions, etc., are an important part of it, there is more that the members of such a group can do to support each other.

Probably not realized by those not living here is how little support there is for the foreign community. Same for the Dominican community. In your home country: you can call police and they will provide almost immediate help; you can call 911 and am ambulance with trained personnel will quickly respond; there are social agencies able to assist you with a wide variety of problems; public services of a great variety are available. But when you live in Sosua or Cabarete, for example, none of those are available.

In some ways living here is like what it was on the frontier. By that I mean you provide for yourself as best you can and hope that others will assist you. And the more help you can get from your neighbors, the better.

As the committee that initiated this project envisions it, the most important feature is the organization of the community to provide assistance to the members. By that I don't mean a formal organization, but an attitude of working together in times of need. If you know someone is sick, members of the group can try to provide whatever assistance is needed. If someone is in trouble with the police, members of the group may be able to help.

At the present time there is no organization whatsoever of the foreign community in Sosua. If there is in Cabarete, I am not aware of it. The main purpose of this project is to try to bring this group together in an informal way so that it can better assist individual members who need help, whether that help is notification of family, blood, or dealing with any one of the many other problems that can confront us when living here.
 
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sami

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Aug 7, 2003
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Please, stay to the Topic!

Thanks
Tim H.:cool:
 
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