Students Delighted with St John First Aid Training

At a recent public event, our staff heard from two graduates of the St John basic emergency first aid training course. Meet Sil Namora, a third-year Political Science student, and Geita Taviri, a fourth-year Biological Science student at the University of Papua New Guinea.

The Emergency First Aid Course includes a combination of theory and practical simulations of real-life emergency scenarios. The course teaches a range of first aid skills including CPR, first aid equipment, and alternatives that can be used in rural PNG.

Geita commended the trainer and the intensity of the program. Geita said, “I learned how to use first aid equipment and not just that, but I properly learned how to perform CPR and use the voice prompt defibrillator.”

Moving forward, Geita feels that the skills and knowledge he gained will be immensely beneficial. Geita emphasized that we often forget how important it is to know first aid, “not many people know the significance of first aid, and going through the training highlights its importance.”

Sil also expressed her appreciation for the training, describing it as great and very helpful. She shared a personal reason for her interest in first aid, having lost her father to a heart attack. Sil believes that having basic first aid knowledge could have made a difference in her family’s ability to help him.

Both Geita and Sil, who are interns at the Business Council of Papua New Guinea under The Fresh Program, are enthusiastic about their involvement in first aid training and volunteering opportunities within the ambulance service. Their positive outlook reflects their commitment to enhancing their skills and contributing to the welfare of the community.”

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St John Ambulance Crew Supporting Fire Service at Gabaka Street Fire in Port Moresby

The St John Ambulance Control Centre received a call to a Fire/Explosion along Gabaka Street yesterday at 1:07 pm.
Four ambulance units with five ambulance officers and a paramedic were sent to the scene of the fire as soon as the call was received.

The ambulance crew were updated on the response plan and on standby to support the firefighters and the public in case of medical emergencies.Two casualties with no serious injuries were attended at the scene.
No patient was transported to the hospital by St John.

St John provided water bottles and shade cloth to the emergency responders at the scene and rehabilitation for firefighters.
People are urged to avoid the area where there is a fire.
Residents in the area of the fire should consider closing their windows if possible to keep smoke out of their homes or office.
St John thank the police, firefighters and the public for their in responding to this emergency.

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St John Ambulance Officers Helped Firefighters When the Yumi-Yet Real Estate in Gerehu was on Fire on Tuesday 

A day after attending to the fire at the Yumi-Yet Real Estate in Gerehu, National Capital District, a fire-fighter sends a message of thanks to the St John ambulance officers.

The firefighter was treated for heat stroke by St John at the scene of the incident.

Heat stroke is a life-threatening condition that happens when the body can no longer control its temperature resulting in a rapid rise in the body temperature which ambulances look out for in fire emergencies.

He apologised if he had the paramedic support vehicle dirty or wet but was told that the St John team was glad that he was okay and don’t mind having to clean the vehicles in order to help a brother out.

That shows the camaraderie between the PNG Fire Service firefighters and the St John ambulance officers.

The 111 call for the fire emergency was registered at 5:19 pm and St John was on scene at 5:38 pm.

A total of five units (two ambulance crews and three on-call command response units) were at the scene.

Only firefighters were treated.

There were no civilian casualties.

The three firefighters that were treated included; one for a minor burn, one for heat distress and one for heat stroke.

 No one was transferred to the hospital.

In consultation with the PNG Fire Service Scene Commander, the St John crews were released at 7:16 pm as there was no more active fire-fighting occurring.

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PNG St John Ambulance Partners with Port Moresby General Hospital to Provide Emergency Medical Services During World Leaders’ Visit

A special operation team has been set up by the St John Ambulance and Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH) to provide emergency medical service during the world leaders’ visit in the coming days.

The team is made up of thirty people that includes ambulance officers, first responders, paramedics and nurses from St John and doctors from the Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH).

Doctors from the Port Moresby General Hospital will be on board St John’s ambulances.

The specially trained thirty-member team will work in shifts over the duration of the leaders’ visit.

The team will stand by at strategic pre-selected locations throughout the city to provide immediate medical support when needed by the leaders. 

St John’s team of experts have extensive experience in managing large-scale event’s emergency medical service and are committed to ensuring the safety of the visiting dignitaries and their accompanying delegations.

St John Ambulance is happy to work in partnership with PMGH to provide high-level emergency medical services when needed.

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St John acknowledges ambulance heroes in Awards Ceremony

On Monday, November 7th, 2022, 87 St. John Ambulance recognized the distinguished contributions of officers, volunteers, and members of St John Ambulance complemented by the graduation of over 100 ambulance officers either as reservist ambulance officers, trainee ambulance officers, or qualified ambulance officers.

The investiture awards and graduation ceremony recognized these selfless acts and contributions of individuals in the organizations to the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem (Order of St John).

The ceremony was presided over by His Excellency, Governor General for Papua New Guinea, Sir Bob Dadae, and Chancellor, Cameron Oxley from St John Australia.

With His Excellency, Sir Bob Dadea as a witness, Chancellor Oxley officially installed the Order of St John medals to five recipients; among them were Commissioner and Chief Executive for St John PNG, Mr. Matthew Cannon.

Chancellor Oxley congratulated all recipients and welcomed them as new members of the worldwide family of St John.

In addition to those invested, Commendation Awards were presented in gold, silver, and bronze categories to individuals and officers who displayed exceptional, distinguished, and notable performances in their line of duties.

Chancellor Cameron Oxley stated, “A great and historic day for St. John Papua New Guinea with the investiture of remarkable and worthy recipients. Congratulations to new graduates who are now members of a worldwide, caring St John family”.

St John CEO, Matthew Cannon thanked the Chancellor’s timely visit to PNG to preside over this important occasion, members of the St John Council, and His Excellency, Sir Bob who has made an exemplary effort to support the work of PNG St John. CEO Matt Cannon said “I want to personally thank each and every one of them here today for their guidance, perseverance, and passion for the work of S John.  Their leadership enables the men and women of St John to make a significant contribution to the pre-hospital and emergency healthcare”.

The ceremony concluded with closing remarks by His Excellency, Sir Bob congratulating all awardees and graduates.

The post St John acknowledges ambulance heroes in Awards Ceremony first appeared on St John Ambulance PNG.

New National Ambulance Operations Centre Opens

The PNG St John Ambulance Council is delighted to announce the official opening of our new emergency ambulance operations centre in Port Moresby.

The Centre is an initiative of the Department of Prime Minister & NEC and the Department of Health, in partnership with the Papua New Guinea St John Ambulance.

A doubling of dispatch capacity

The new Centre provides the PNG St John Ambulance with a much-improved ability to coordinate ambulance services.

The new Centre more than doubles the number of call-taker and dispatcher desks, meaning the centre has a theoretical capacity to support some 120 ambulances and ten flight medical teams at any one-time around Papua New Guinea, saving lives and helping people access healthcare.

Funded by Prime Minister’s Department and State Owned Enterprise

The Department of Prime Minister and National Executive Council invested PGK 500,000 and Kumul Consolidated Holdings a further PGK 1,000,000 for the construction of the Centre.

Earlier this year, the Australian Government supported a significant upgrade of radio-data communications systems including a hybrid of Motorola LTE and VHF and CAD ICT systems. The New Zealand Government and United Nations Development Program assisted with supply and installation of Barrett HF radios for rural ambulances.

Prime Minister Announces Further Support to Ambulance Services

In support of PNG St John Ambulance Service, Prime Minister James Marape said, “St John Ambulance Service will be allocated increased budgetary support in 2023 to support their key corporate objectives as outlined in the strategic plans.

“My Department is also supporting the review of the outdated legislation to incorporate new amendments that would bring changes to the way St John Ambulance Service would deliver and respond to ambulance services in PNG. The amendment is coordinated together with St John Ambulance Service and the Department of Justice and Attorney General (DJAG),” the Prime Minister said.

Prime Minister Marape said the intention is for the revised law to ensure St John Ambulance Service is mandated to perform specialist functions and responsibilities, for instance, to allow them to recruit retrieval emergency medical technicians to be able to provide high quality and administer emergency services during emergency situations to save lives of the communities.

Did you know…?

Last year the ambulance service responded to over 13,000 emergency incidents.

This year the ambulance service has already responded to over 15,500 emergencies!

Over 150 men and women serve St John Ambulance in ambulance service related roles in four regions of PNG.

You can find out more about the PNG St John Ambulance at www.stjohn.org.pg

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Her Majesty Queen Elizbeth II 1926 – 2022

The St John Ambulance of Papua New Guinea under the Order of St John joins other St John organizations, to share our deepest condolences upon the news of the death of Her Majesty The Queen today.

Her Majesty became Sovereign Head of the Order of St John upon her accession in 1952, and has been a great supporter of our work.

We join the rest of PNG and the St John family across the world in sending our condolences to the Royal Family at this time of immense and profound grief.

Our Lord Prior Prof Mark Compton has written a letter to all St John people which can be read on St John’s international website: https://www.stjohninternational.org/news/vale-hm

Our thoughts and prayers are with the Royal Family at this time.

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