Road in Paget by the end of the year after they have completed an extension and renovations.

Director of the Bermuda Red Cross, Ann Spencer-Arscott told members of the Hamilton Lions at their weekly meeting that the organisation would be moving their Hospital Equipment Rental Unit to the new building, where they will rent hospital beds, cribs, wheelchairs, walkers, crutches, canes and so on to those in need.

Mrs. Spencer-Arscott said: "We are presently located in the old hospital and the conditions are cramped and not very user friendly. We have plans in with the Department of Planning for a new facility for our rentals at Charleswood.'' And she added that there will also be additional storage for equipment as well as emergency and disaster supplies and then space for office rental on the second floor which will assist in servicing any debt.

Some 800 pieces of equipment are rented to approximately 700 people annually, and the Bermuda Red cross also makes donations of surplus crutches, walkers and wheelchairs to their sister societies in the Caribbean. There are 18 volunteers who each put in 100 hours a year make the unit possible. A standby generator has also been installed at the Charleswood property and it will assist in emergency situations where training rooms can be converted into triage rooms and/or communication rooms for the EMO.

Mrs. Spencer-Arscott also explained other current events and initiatives the organisation was currently undertaking, and discussed areas that were in need of help and volunteers. February is heart month and the Red Cross is bringing in a volunteer Instructor Trainer from the American Red Cross to teach new instructor candidates, upgrade present instructors, train three new instructor trainers and train all existing and new instructors in the use of Automated External Defibrilators (AED).

Mrs. Spencer-Arscott said: "This is an exciting project that we have been working on for the last year,'' and she said the St. John's Ambulance service has already started this programme.

And she said that through their relationships with many other organisations, they had already ordered 16 machines.

Mrs. Spencer-Arscott did say however that there is currently no legislation covering the use of AED's for the general public, and they were waiting for information from the local insurance companies about the type of coverage one could have until legislation was in place.

And she added: "From our point of view, no machine will be sold to companies or individuals without the appropriate training, and once our training is complete, we are hoping to have our clients trained and in possession of their machines by the end of March.

Other activities carried out by the Red Cross include the Blood Donor Centre.

Clinics are held on Tuesday mornings and Thursday afternoons using some 58 volunteer nurses and approximately 2,200 units of blood are collected each year.