Growing population puts strain on St John services

ST John Ambulance needs more ambulances to serve the growing population in the city, says commissioner Matt Cannon.
Cannon said the service currently had three ambulances in operation, however, it was not enough to cater for the city thaty had a population of almost one million people.
“The number of people needing our services have increased over the years,” he said.
“In 2018, we served over 7,000 people and in 2019, we had over 10,000 callers needing our help.
“So we need (three) more ambulances to be able to cater for and serve the growing number of population in the city.” Cannon said they have also been getting calls for cases related to fire and police as people trusted that St John would help them.
“So we have a lot of callers calling the 111 emergency number.”
Cannon also said they had tremendous support from the National Capital District Commission the Central governments and hoped it would continue this year.
He said St John started operating in Port Moresby in 1957.
“Since then, is the only one providing ambulance services in the city and nearby provinces such as Gulf and Central.”