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A Community First Responder scheme could be set up in Portree, if vital funds are raised.
Efforts are being made to raise £1,500 required to buy the necessary kit. Once purchase, the kit will also require maintenance and upgrading.
A Community First Responder is a local volunteer who agrees to undertake training in Basic Life Support. This then enables them to provide life saving treatment to those people within the community who are critically ill, in the first few minutes prior to the arrival of an ambulance.
To read more of the story, visit the JustGiving page here.
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CalMac have adopted a new strategy to better educate passengers on emergency procedures.
The ferry operator have premiered a new on-board safety video.
The film lasts for three minutes and features local residents from Arran. Combining humour with potentially lifesaving information, it is hoped the film will relay CalMac's safety message effectively.
The current safety announcement is a pre-recorded audio message, played after the captain has welcomed the passengers on board.
The video and audio messages have been recorded in English and Gaelic with the video also having subtitles. The new video and audio announcements will be rolled out across the fleet during 2018.
CalMac's director of Health, Safety, Quality and Environment, Louis de Wolff, says: "The message behind our safety announcement is a serious one, it is about giving passengers the information they need in the unlikely event of an emergency.
"However, our research was telling us that passengers weren't listening to the information being given to them over the tannoy, so we thought we needed other, more engaging ways of getting our safety message across.
"A safety announcement that meets the legal requirements is not fit for purpose unless people absorb and remember the information we want them to.
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Scotland has been named one of the world's top travel destinations for 2018, with special recognition going to the Isle of Skye.
The list by travel magazine, Wanderlust, named Scotland in fourth place.
The magazine described Scotland as being home to "heathered highlands and glassy lochs to remote windswept isles where the only sound is the breeze gusting through rocky crag."
The list mentions the beauty of Harris and Barra, going on to say: "But for pure drama – and joy – you can simply head to the wild green canvas of Skye’s Trotternish Peninsula, where walks pinch the 30km edge of this wide open expanse offering unrivalled views of the majestic Cuillin range."
The full list can be read here.
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Skye's popular music festival, Skye Live, will once again fill Portree with music.
The two day festival will take place on Friday 21 September and Saturday 22 September.
The festival will return to The Lump.
Full details can be found here.
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An Crùbh Post Office will be closed on Tuesday 9 January.
The closure will allow an upgrade of the branch technology and a change to the till systems.
The aim is to reopen the Post Office again after lunch time.
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Donnie Nicolson has praised the fast actions of the staff at Portree, after an anaphylactic reaction left his partner, Rosie, straining to breathe.
Rosie's reaction took place shortly after eating prawns. Very quickly, her lips and eyes started to swell and she was soon vomiting, struggling to breathe and struggling to walk.
The incident took place on Friday 22 December - the same day as NHS Highland announced it would be temporarily suspending the Minor Injuries/Urgent Care Centre at Portree Hospital.
Mr Nicolson stated: "The medical team on duty at Portree Hospital quickly took her into their care and went to work. As you would expect, it was true professionalism at its best. Within a short time the drugs administered had taken effect and her symptoms were brought under control. She was kept in a further few hours for observation before being let home later that night. She had suffered an anaphylactic reaction to prawns - something we eat all the time.
"Once getting home, we had time to reflect on the evenings events, and to ask, yes - but what if?"
Mr Nicolson believes Rosie's story could have ended very differently, had the incident happened during the suspension of services.
“Anaphylaxis is a life-threatening severe allergic reaction. It is a medical emergency that requires immediate treatment and as Rosie had never experienced anything like this previously she had no Epipen.
“Had we gone to Portree Hospital and found there was not the appropriate staff or equipment we would have had to go to Broadford. The journey would have required an ambulance under blue lights, but would there have been an ambulance available?
“Rosie needed adrenaline – the delaying of this can result in deterioration and death. The treatment that Rosie received within 20 minutes of experiencing symptoms saved her life. If this had happened just a week later when we believe the same level of care will not be available in Portree – the outcome may have been very different.
"Rosie was lucky, she got the required treatment quickly and has made a full recovery. Our fear is that others will not be so lucky. Once the basic life saving capability has been removed from Portree hospital, lives will be lost. And once something is gone, you’ll not get it back."
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The Minor Injuries Unit/Urgent Care Centre at Portree Hospital on Skye is to be temporarily suspended for one day and the Out of Hours service for the following three days next week because of continuing staffing problems.
NHS Highland stated: "Normally the MIU/Urgent Care Centre operates from 8am to 11pm every day. Unfortunately, because of the lack of available advanced nurse practitioner cover, the current position is that the unit will be closed from 8am to 6pm on Tuesday 2nd January 2017. The unit's Out of Hours service will then be covered by doctors and nurses from the Rural Practitioner Team based at the Dr MacKinnon Memorial Hospital in Broadford.
"On Wednesday 3rd, Thursday 4th and Friday 5th January, the MIU will be open from 8am to 6pm. After 6pm the Out of Hours service will again be covered by the team based at Broadford.
"There are no changes for medical emergencies, where members of the public should dial 999. During the out of hours period (6pm to 8am; Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holidays) the Out of Hours service can be contacted by calling NHS 24 on 111.
"The decision, which has been taken on the grounds of safety for patients, is similar to arrangements that worked well over the festive period last week. However, NHS Highland is still actively seeking to provide cover at Portree and, if successful, will communicate any changes as soon as possible as possible via our website, Facebook, Twitter as well as via local media."
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Road policing officers in the Highland and Islands are reminding road users of the dangers and consequences of driving after drinking or taking drugs ahead of the New Year's celebrations.
Local officers have been supporting a national campaign, with high visibility patrols across the region throughout the festive period.
The campaign aims to reduce the number of people drinking and driving, while detecting those who do.
Mobile and static patrols are continuing across the Highlands and Islands. Officers will continue to be on the roads this weekend to watch for anyone suspected of being over the limit.
Sergeant Gregor Hay of the Road Policing Unit, based in Dingwall, said: "Despite the varied and well-publicised consequences of driving under the influence of drugs or alcohol, we still catch drivers who ignore the risks and get behind the wheel.
"This weekend many people will be attending parties and events to celebrate Hogmanay and New Year's Day.
"Our advice would be to make travel plans in advance to so that the temptation to drive under the influence is removed. If you are planning to drive then it is best not to consume any alcohol at all - there is no safe limit.
"I would also urge people to think about any journeys they have to make the following day, taking into account the period of time alcohol remains in a person's system the morning after.
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Welfare policies should be shaped by the hidden factors behind rural poverty, a leading Highlands MSP has said.
Kate Forbes MSP believes that higher prices for food, clothes, fuel and travel have contributed to the "stark reality of Highland poverty".
Welfare policies, which continue to be largely a reserved matter, have faced extensive criticism over the last few years.
Ms Forbes said she felt moved to write on the subject after meeting a homeless man sleeping rough in Dingwall train station on a snowy winter's night as she arrived home from the Scottish Parliament.
Kate Forbes MSP explained: "The essentials required for a minimum standard of living is the same for rural and urban residents – food, clothes and fuel. But the costs are much, much higher.
"An HIE study in 2013 estimated that it cost households in remote, rural Scotland about 10 to 40 per cent more to achieve the basic standard of living. It was above 40 per cent for island residents.
"That is because of the higher prices for food, clothes and groceries, the increased charges of fuel and the travel costs that are slapped on to every trip.
"Whatever the reason, we are ignoring the stark reality of Highland poverty."
Read more: Kate Forbes MSP: “Stark reality of Highland poverty must shape welfare policies”
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The life of Alasdair Macleod, whose body was recovered from the Staffin shoreline, is to be celebrated.
Mr Macleod, a fisherman in Applecross, was reported missing on November 20 after his boat, Varuna, was found on the rocks north of Applecross Bay.
A celebration of his life is to be held in 2018 by his family.
In an update on Mr Macleod's blog, Applecross Life, the family wrote: "Ali’s body was identified much more quickly than we’d expected; we had been warned that it would take several weeks to do this using DNA. However, it was suggested that dental records might be used instead. By Monday evening the fiscal’s office had phoned to say that ID and post mortem were complete and his death certificate could be issued."
"We believe he had finished with the creels for the day and was on his way back to the mooring when he went overboard. All the prawns had been tubed and were in the vivier tank. We were told that the Varuna was travelling at around five knots when she grounded on Saint Island, which is much faster than she would have been going if Ali had been shooting creels.
"The Marine Accident Investigation Board is investigating what happened and will issue a report.
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