Paramedics get advanced lifesaving training

**St John Ambulance staff at the training last week on a simulation exercise of attending to a gun and knife wound patient. – Nationalpic by LULU MARK.**

By LULU MARK
HAVING properly trained paramedics, nurses and doctors at emergency scenes will ensure badly injured victims are given vital lifesaving treatment, a doctor says.
St John Ambulance deputy chief medical officer Dr Arabella Koliwan said for the first time in Papua New Guinea, the ambulance service held a training on advanced life support (ALS) and pre-hospital trauma life support (PHTLS) for its staff in the National Capital District and regional centres last week.
The training was delivered in partnership with Parasol EMT and Edvoke Education which are Australian organisations that deliver high quality advanced training for medical personnel.
Koliwan said 40 staff went through the ALF level one, then 20 did the ADL level two and 20 did the PHTLS which was about attending to either very sick or injured patients that may have suffered a cardiac arrest.
She said the short courses (which were internationally recognised) were valuable.
“They give the attendees the skills and knowledge to be able to attend to serious cases,” she said.
Some St John staff underwent instructor training as well with the hope that in the future they would be able to take the knowledge and experience and develop their own courses and run them in conjunction with the PNG society for emergency medicine.
“We are thinking of how to do this kind of training for our staff and other public health staff.”