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This is the online version of The Kaselehlie Press - a Pohnpei-based newspaper that covers stories throughout the FSM. Published every two weeks, it is your newspaper for today and tomorrow.

If you would like to be a subscriber please contact us here.  We can send a PDF version of The Kaselehlie Press directly to your email address usually even before the newspaper begins to hit the stands in Pohnpei for only $30 per year.

Thank you for visiting our site and for your kind donations and subscriptions. 

Bill Jaynes 

Managing Editor

Pohnpei, FSM


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911 emergency service launched in Pohnpei already bringing faster emergency responses

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Category: News
Published: Tuesday, 08 January 2019 02:13
Written by Bill Jaynes
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By Bill Jaynes

The Kaselehlie Press

 

December 7, 2018

48382000 2101791249886720 7071777040000614400 nPohnpei—This morning the Pohnpei Department of Public Safety activated its 911 Emergency Communication Center and administered the Oath of Service to 19 firefighters.  The firefighters are also trained Emergency Medical Responders (EMR) and the station is now manned 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  Firefighters and EMRs are also on duty 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

What the ceremony this morning means for Pohnpei is that it from this time forward, it will be easier for residents to access emergency services, both medical and police, and that response time should be faster.

Besides the oaths of office and the official opening of the 911 center, a highlight of the ceremony was the presentation of an award to Firefighter Joseph Ainstein.  Ainstein received the award for actions he took on November 25.  EMRs were dispatched to the area of the public market in response to a call about a drowning victim.  When they arrived the victim was on shore and was not breathing.  Ainstein performed a set of chest compressions that were unsuccessful.  During the second set of compressions she began to breathe and to cry.  Ainstein and his partner Dalferd Perez transported her to the hospital where she was treated on an emergency basis.

The 911 system has already resulted in at least one rapid response that meant that one home did not burn down when it easily could have.  At approximately 8:30 on the evening of December 8, the day after the 911 center officially opened, the 911 dispatcher received a call about a fire burning inside a home near the Kolonia Community Health Center.  He dispatched firefighters who arrived and put out the fire which had been caused by a butane gas stove.  “The home owners are very fortunate that the neighbors called in on time, otherwise the fire could have set the rest of the house on fire,” said Chief Patrick Carl.

It’s just the kind of response that the Department of Public Safety had hoped for.  Chief Carl said that it works on cell phones as well, even if the cell phone has no credits left on it.

While people should not hesitate to use the system there are also some things that they should know, said Chief Carl. The 911 emergency system is for currently happening emergency use only, Chief Carl said.  For instance, if you come home to find that your house has earlier been burglarized, it would be better to use the phone number 320-8633 to report the crime rather than 911.  But if, for example, there is an ongoing machete fight outside your home, or if someone is in medical distress and needing immediate medical attention, Pohnpei residents should not hesitate to use the 911 system.48366809 300896383875091 5999605327195013120 n

Residents need to know as well that when they call, the dispatcher has a list of questions to ask in order to assess what services need to be dispatched.  As soon as they know enough in order to dispatch the proper emergency responders they will ask the caller to remain on the line while they alert the proper responders whether those are law enforcement, fire, EMRs, or all three.  The dispatcher will then return to the line to continue to ask questions in order to aid in the continuing emergency response.  They will need to know the caller’s phone number and name in order to have continuing contact with them.  All of this is so that responders can get rolling as quickly as possible and so that they can continue to receive information even as they are responding to the scene of an emergency.

Dispatchers use a computerized system to aid them in their dispatch decisions with tabs for many different types of emergencies that lead them to different sets of questions to ask the caller.  All of them designed to give the best type of emergency response DPS can provide.

The 911 system has three lines that roll over to the next available line to the dispatcher if any are busy.  That process is transparent to the caller.  Also, phones within the center are programmed for single button contact of the various emergency response units in Pohnpei.  They also have radios, one for on island response and one for the outer islands in the event that phones at the response units go unanswered at the time of an emergency.

Chief Carl wanted to be sure that people understand that the 911 system is an emergency response dispatch number at the Department of Public Safety and is completely unrelated to the 411 telecom phone directory service.  Apparently, since the service opened dispatchers have received calls from confused callers who want to know a phone number.

Chief Carl said that the International Organization for Migration also provided funding for a new radio tower that has eliminated many of the areas where radio communication had previously been impossible.  There are still many areas in Pohnpei where radios cannot be reached but Carl said that DPS hopes to find funding to continue to eliminate those areas through the use of repeaters.

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Accomplishments and controversy for FSM Swimmers in Hangzhou, China

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Category: News
Published: Tuesday, 08 January 2019 02:13
Written by Bill Jaynes
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By Bill Jaynes

The Kaselehlie Press

December 19, 2018

FSM—FSM Swimmers made history and set new FSM records during the FINA Short Course World Championships set this year in Hangzhou, China that took place December 11-16.  It was a historic first in that it was the first time in FSM history for swimmers from each of the four FSM states to participate in a world swimming championship.

FINA is the governing organization that oversees all international swimming.  The Short Course World Championship takes place in a 25 meter swimming pool and happens every two years in the even numbered years.  On odd numbered years a Long Course World Championship takes place in a 50 meter pool.

To qualify for the FINA Short Course Championships the FSM swimmers had to compete in the Oceania Swimming Championships in Papua New Guinea last summer, which they all did in their individual events and also in Mixed Relay events.

The four FSM swimmers, each of whom set new FSM swimming records were 16-year-old Taeyanna Adams who is Pohpeian and Chuukese; 19-year-old Kaleo Kihleng who is Pohpeian and Kosraean; 24-year-old Tasi Limtiaco who is Chuukese and Yapese; and 16-year-old Margie Winter who is Chuukese.  Each of the athletes not only dropped their finish times from their qualifying times at the Oceania Swimming Championships but each also set at least one FSM record for the individual events in which they each competed.  Of the eight swims in China, six are new FSM National records.

Each of the swimmers was already an FSM national record holder in various events.

Taeyanna Adams competed in the 50 meter Breaststroke and scored a new FSM record at 37.00 seconds.  She also competed in the 100 meter Freestyle and scored a time of 1:08.41.

Kaleo Kihleng competed in the 50 meter Freestyle and set a new FSM record of 25.47 seconds. He also competed in the 100 meter Freestyle and maintained his current FSM record of 55.83 seconds.

Tasi Limtiaco swam FSM records in each of the events he swam.  In the 200 meter Individual Medley his time was 2:08.69.  In the 50 meter Breaststroke his time was 28.89.

Margie Winter also set two FSM swim records.  In the 50 meter Butterfly, her time was 31.57.  In the 50 meter Freestyle, her time was 28.86.

At the Oceania Swimming Championship in PNG the FSM Swimming team was the first FSM team to become eligible to compete in a relay event at a world championship.  The FSM relay team had the fastest qualifying time of any of the relay teams in the Micronesian region and scored high among all of the participants from Oceania.  As a result, they were eligible to compete in two relays in China - the Mixed 4x50 Freestyle relay and the Mixed 4x50 Medley relay.

According to documents, the FSM swim coach had submitted the qualifying swim times for each of the events to Sweeter Daniel, President of the FSM Swimming well before the deadline to enter the events in China.  Their qualifying time in PNG for the 4 x 50 meter Mixed Freestyle relay had been 1:52.97 on June 26, 2018.

But when the team arrived in Hangzhou, the athletes and their coaches discovered that the FSM Swimming Association had submitted entries only for the individual events and not for the Mixed Relays for which the team had qualified and trained.  Had they been entered, it would have been a second “first” for FSM swimmers in FSM history at the Hangzhou swimming competition—the first time an FSM team had competed in a Mixed Relay in an international competition.

The Oceania Athlete Advocate stepped in to attempt to help the team get registered for the events they had planned to swim but was unsuccessful.  The team was unable to participate.

Just the same, the athletes prevailed in their individual events despite the disappointment in the backdrop of their performances.

Early this week we contacted Sweeter Daniel and asked her if there was a reason that she had not registered the FSM swimmers to swim in the relay events.  “Who told you to ask me that question,” she asked.  When we replied that some of the athlete’s parents had asked us to find out if there was a reasonable explanation, she replied, “Sorry, never mind,” and hung up the phone.

Some of the athletes and coaches arrived home this afternoon. 

One athlete’s parent said that it was unfortunate that FSM sports dirty laundry had to be aired in front of the international swimming community.  The parent said that the relay could have been one of two firsts for the FSM and the athletes were disappointed but they performed really well any way and that the FSM could be proud of them.

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