Lae’s St John Ambulance in need of new vehicles

ST JOHN Ambulance (SJA) regional commander Anderson Poumb says its Lae branch is operating with only one fully-kitted ambulance.
Poumb said having only one ambulance was a challenge as they often received two or three cases a day.
“When responding, our first case depends on the priority, which is usually the life-threatening cases and then we attend to the other calls,” Poumb said.
He said the current ambulance was a bus, which meant a quicker response time was restricted due to road and weather conditions.
“Some roads are not accessible by bus so we can only go as far as Nadzab and mostly within city limits,” he said.
“We do have a Land-Cruiser, however, it’s more of an admin support vehicle.”
Poumb said the team needed Land-Cruiser ambulances which were fully-kitted to roll out the service to nearby districts as well.
He said since beginning operations in Lae on May 19, SJA had attended to 71 cases, mostly mothers in labour with complications.
He also observed that many in Lae were not well informed on SJA services and benefits.
“We are not just a vehicle to transport emergency cases but a fully-kitted he emergency response unit,” Poumb explained.
He encouraged people in Lae to call the SJA hotline number 111 for emergency assistance.
“But all in all, the community response has been welcoming as many say this is a much-needed service,” he said.