Two-year preparation gets St John Ambulance ready for Apec Summit

THE St John Ambulance has been preparing for the past two years to provide world-class services during the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit this
year, says Commissioner Matt Cannon.
Cannon said preparations included training on disaster exercise, public order and riot squad training for medical personnel, and disaster management development of a Special Operations Unit. “The NSW (New South Wales) Ambulance and St John Ambulance Australia senior paramedics have also been conducting trainings with Papua New Guinea St John,” he said.
The training involved a team of intensive care paramedics and emergency medical technicians.”
Cannon said they had also acquired six new ambulances in 2017 and planned to get 19 more before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit.
“We are now looking at major upgrades to our Emergency Operations Centre and will also install a computer-aided dispatch software,” he said.
“A major incident medical management systems for paramedics will be run by the Australian Government in March.”
Cannon said that they had already begun building capability and capacity, sourcing personnel with world-class credentials to support and develop a strategy to meet the needs of such a significant event.
He said the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Summit would also provide an opportunity for the country to showcase the significant steps it had taken in the past 40 years to become a powerhouse in the Pacific region.