St John saves pregnant woman

A WOMAN in Central facing pregnancy complications was saved – thanks to the quick response by the St John Ambulance, Central Health Authority and Helifix.
The 32-year-old woman was evacuated by helicopter from the Veifa health centre in Central – about 200km north of Port Moresby.
The woman went to the health centre on March 27, complaining of labour pains. The baby was stuck sideways in the womb and not in the normal head-down birthing position.
It meant that the woman needed emergency surgery at the Port Moresby General Hospital.
The doctor called St John for assistance.
St John paramedic Rachael Pykol said: “If we went by road, it would be over 12 hours from the time of call until we reached the Port Moresby General Hospital.
“It was possible she wouldn’t survive this long.”
The duty manager at the St John ambulance coordination centre called the Central authority to organise a helicopter.
Authority was given immediately.
Within 30 minutes, paramedics Pykol and Jacquie Hennessy arrived at the scene.
They assessed the patient and brought her to the hospital within the hour.
Dr Sam Yockopua described the situation as a great example of where the use of helicopters with pre-hospital care trained professionals could save lives. St John chief executive officer Matt Cannon said they were working with some PHAs to provide pre-hospital care training for nurses and health professionals.
Cannon said they had two nurses from Milne Bay PHA and four nurses from NCD who were doing the ambulance certificate III course at the new St John School of Prehospital Care in Baruni.