WEST VANCOUVER received a ainbulanee new piece Of equipment and accompanying train- attendants — recentls ing thar will help them to possibly save more lives. Called a rapid defibrillator, the new cardiac monitor will automatically detect irregular heart rhythms and administers an elec- trical shock to get the heart beating regularly again. “tt recognizes the life-threaten- ing (heart rhythms) and shocks (to correct. them)" said) Wasne Galbraith, West Vancouver unit chief for the Provincial Ambulance Service. “We in the regular ambulance service didn't have a monitor the- fore getting the mew piece of equipment)."’ said) Galbraith. “What this does is provide us with atoobto diagnose and treat the uent atthe seene.”” Zefore vetting the denbritletor, the attendants” treatment Gh a vag diag patent was iimuted to ad- ministering Cardio Pulmonary Recuseitation (CPRp and waite for the paramedic ambulance to arise trom North Vancouver. Used by attendants during Expo and by the Seatie Fire Depart- ment, the defibrillator has proven ta be a positive addition in’ the fievht to save lives, he said. pps ee NEWS photo Nell Lucente | : WEST VANCOUVER ambulance attendants Gord Marshall (lef) and Sean Henschel practise on the new rapid defibrillator during a training session. NV FIRM REBUILDS AMERICAN LEGEND i ts care EL AEE? PLtsr eRe Tomer 2 " v anes NEWS photo Mike Wakellaid THE REFURBISHED San Diego ferry sits ready for delivery to its new home in California while owner Roger Morgan (lef) and North Van- couver marine contractor Robert Abernethy discuss fast-minute details. The 1931-vintage San Diego to Coronado ferry was recently transformed into a restaurant-cabaret by North Vancouver's Robert Abernethy Ltd. A NORTH Vancouver company has helped refloat an American legend. By TIMO News Reporter Following a final intensive five-week, round-the-clock push by Robert Abernethy Lid. to get it ready for delivery, the 264-foot San Diego ferry was towed out of Vancouver harbor Sept. 12 by the Seaspan Queen en route to its new home port of Antioch, California. The 1931-vintage ferry had sat idle in Vancouver for the past eight years, but in its prime the San Diego had been a key link in U.S. armed forces transportation. Between 193] and 1909 it carried what new owner Roger Morgan said ‘tmust have been 50 per cent of the United States Navy’? when it was the main transportation link between the naval base at San Diego and the resort community on nearby Coronado Island. But the San Diego’s naval career ended after a bridge between the two communities was built in 1969. The ferry was then picked up by the Washington State ferry service and put into service plying Puget Sound waters for 10 years. It was headed for the scrap heap after Washinuton upgraded _ its Meet in 1979 when North Van- couver businessman and Gulf of Georgia Towing owner Jim Byrn purchased the vessel and brought it lo Vancouver, EXPO 86 BEER GARDEN Byrn tried unsuccessfully to find Suntias. Septermber 20, 1O87 Weather: Sunday through Tuesday, mostly sunny. Highs near 18°C. North Share Nywws INDEX Business . Classified Ads Doug Collins Comics Editorial Page Fashion lifestyles. . Mailbox TV Listings Travel MP Collins opposes lighthouse automation CAPILANO MP Mary Collins has announced her oppost- tion to the proposed automation of the Point Atkinson lighthouse. “PT don't see why it fas to be changed.” Collins said Thursday. “J feel tightkeepers provide a valuable service. You don’t always have to do everything ona rauonal basis.” Collins made the comments fol- lowing her statements Tuesday in the House of Commons question- ing recommendations made in the LeBlond report on unmanning West Coast lighthouses. In the report, author Dr. Paul LeBlond recommended that 10 of B.C.’s 44 manned lighthouses, in- cluding Point Atkinson, be un- manned immediately and only I! remain with lighthouse keepers. Addressing the House, Collins said she recognized LeBlond’s ex- a buyer for the San Diego during the early 1980s. Four years ago, he wrote to the city of San Diego and offered to return the vessel to its home port or send the San Diego on its way to the scrap heap. Morgan, a Coronado resident, bought the San Diego from Byrn after a commitment from the city of Coronado to find permanent moorage for the vessel and use it as a tourist attraction, **HU's also a piece of history and a symbol of the community,’’ Morgan said. But Coronado changed its mind. Morgan launched a lawsuit. And he has been ‘looking for a friendly port" for theSan Diego ever since. The vessel's obsolete engines were removed three years ago when Morgan, Byrn and Abernethy had plans to transform the San Diego into a floating beer garden and moor it at the Expy 86 site. But the idea was rejected by the Expo committee, which claim- ed there was not enough space for the ferry. Work to turn the vessel into a floating restaurant-cabaret started 2’ years ago at Robert Abernethy Ltd.'s dock at the foot of Philip Avenue when negotiations began with Antioch. $1.6 MILLION OVERHAUL The final push to complete the $1.6 million overhaul began in earnest in July after the Antioch city fathers approved moorage for the ferry as part of that northern Californian community’s water- pertise and understood bow tech- nology fas reduced the need for seme manned lighthouses, but “Tightkeepers perform a multitude of duties including marine weather monitoring and participation in search and rescue operations."* She said of equal importance to the duties performed by lighthouse keepers was the ‘feeling of con- fidence...they inspire. Our mari- ners know that behind the beacon of light, there lies a capable and courageous individual who will render assistance...something no machine can do.”” Collins urged the Minister of Transport to examine the human and historical contributions of lighthouse keepers along with the technological factors. front revitalization. “It was a wild job,’’ Robert Abernethy said. ‘‘We did probably 50 per cent of the refit in the last five weeks. We were working 24 hours a day.”" Abernethy said his company, which has done a wide variety of general contracting work on the Vancouver waterfront and elsewhere in the Lower Mainland over the past 1} years, was selected to overhaul the San Diego because Byrn recognized the diversity of skills offered by his company. The North Vancouver businessman had alse been a client of Abernethy’s in the past. 350-SEAT CABARET The former feur-deck passenger ferry, which was recently appraised at $3.7 million, is now outfitted with a 350-seat cabaret and a 250- seat mahogany-lined restaurant that boasts a 4,200-square-foot kitchen. “They did a marvellous job of refurbishing i1,"° Morgan said. ** Just a super job.” The San Diego sailed into the Vancouver sunset behind the Seaspan Queen Sept. 12, but was delaved in the Juan De Fuca Strait until Friday awaiting good weathe; for its voyage south. Abernethy said he will fly to Antioch this weekend in prepura- tion for the San Diego's installa- tion, The grand old ferry is scheduled to arcive in the Californian city tonight.