St John extends service to ENB

The National Weekender
HEALTH
St John Ambulance regional commander Jethro Philimon checking the ambulance kits in the Kokopo storeroom. -Pictures courtesy of St John Ambulance

THE people in Kokopo and beyond where the roads extend are happy to know that a St John ambulance will come to help them in medical emergencies.
Having just two ambulance vehicles, the St John team of eight officers in Kokopo have attended to more than 1,000 emergency cases with more calls coming from the hinterlands as well.
The St John ambulance service in East New Britain (ENB) was initiated almost 18 months ago in October 2020, at the request of the provincial government and sealed with an agreement between the provincial administration, provincial health authority (PHA) and St John.
Since that time, apart from being “on call” for requests made through to the National Ambulance 111 emergency control centre, St John has conducted advanced life support training with emergency department staff of Nonga Base and Vunapope General hospitals in Rabaul and Kokopo.
In order to quickly establish a presence, St John set up a very basic facility within the Kokopo Fire Service premises.
The use of the ambulance service has been growing, attending to 602 cases in 2020 and callouts rising to 848 in 2021, with more than a third of these emergencies in locations outside of the Kokopo and Rabaul area and to Pomio and other parts of the Gazelle Peninsula.
St John assistant chief of ambulance service Terence Torea said while it was gratifying that the service was being used, there was only funding to employ enough trained ambulance officers to man one ambulance for 24 hours a day in two shifts.
“Although we have two ambulances, one is very old and in constant need of maintenance so we keep it in reserve and don’t like to use it on longer journeys,” he said.
“We’re the only emergency service of its kind in ENB.
“If there are two emergency callouts at the same time, there will be unavoidably delays which could mean a person doesn’t survive because we don’t have enough ambulances in Gazelle, Rabaul and Kokopo.
Chief of operations for Agmark Ltd, Steven Nightingale, who is also responsible for a range of commercial activities throughout the province said, “the community knows that St John will respond to our medical emergencies at any time of the night and day”.
“We are very grateful for this service being available.
“Not only are our villages are relying on St John but so too are our businesses and tourism industry. St John is our emergency ambulance service.
“If staff get injured at work or their families are sick at home, St John is the only number we will call for help.
“It’s reassuring to know that they’re available 24/7, but with only one ambulance being staffed during the shift, we worry if they will be available if there are more than one emergency at any time.
“We are a big city, with lots of tourism.
“We need St John to have more ambulances available all the time,” Nightingale said.
In the long term St John would like to have its own premises in Kokopo and be able to staff more than one ambulance, especially as the requirement for the service has increased across the province.