So,what do you get when you drop two St John Ambulance NSW members into Papua New Guinea?
One big tale!
In June 2021, Corey Sclater, a Registered Nurse with Western Sydney Division, and Damien Rodgers, an Advance Responder from Granville Division and BERT were deployed as part of the Australian Volunteers Program to Papua New Guinea to work with St John Ambulance(PNG).
The program is funded by the Australian Government and managed by an AVI-led consortium to support partner organisation's such as St John PNG with volunteers who bring specific skills to regional areas to support growth, development, and training.
Damien was brought over to be an Ambulance Officer Mentor to help grow and develop Ambulance Officers’ skills, knowledge, and contribute to practical aspects of on-road operations for the national ambulance service and the Ambulance Officers themselves. He is working with Jacquie Hennessy, another St John Ambulance NSW member, who is currently the Deputy Commissioner and Chief of Clinical Operations.
Corey was engaged as a Clinical Educator for St John PNG to support both the Ambulance Officers and the Nurses who are already working with St John. His knowledge and experience as a Registered Nurse has been an excellent base for developing the skills and knowledge of the Ambulance Officers and HCPs in the ambulance service.
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From the words of Damien...
If anyone who knows either of us, they know that we are passionate and have been heavily involved in St John NSW for many years, and that we were both eager for the new opportunity.
Like so much with St John, things change and grow and do not always go to the plan set out before us, but members always step up to the challenges and adapt to the tasks at hand. This has been no different here in PNG.
So, what have we been up to here since being in PNG? We have been involved in a wide range of projects and areas. It has been amazing and a whirlwind with each day not being the same. Together, we have developed and delivered a Certificate III ‘Intensive Bridging Course’ for our Ambulance Officers that give them a new level of training and understanding of pre-hospital care. Corey has also expanded on that training to include a B.E.L.S. (Basic Emergency Life Support) course designed for regional health workers and clinics to again build on their skills and knowledge, we have both now delivered this to different provinces in PNG.
Additionally, we have been working in our respective fields supporting the ambulance service and other St John projects including the Nightingale COVID Care Centre Field Hospital, which is operating as a COVID-19 overflow facility for the National Hospital. Corey is the Assistant Director of Nursing at the Nightingale COVID Care Centre, and Damien is currently involved with management within the National Ambulance Control Centre. Corey and Damien are supporting the national response, as well as air medical rescue service/team, creating policies and procedures, developing, and deploying auxiliary programs such as GoodSAM and AMii, as well as supporting the day-to-day operations and calls of the ambulance service. We also have been able to provide clinical back up and mentoring to the PNG crews, and we have both attended a wide range of incidents from cardiac arrests, obstetrics cases, standard calls and then to mass casualty incidents involving 20 patients, with a subsequent two vehicles and five officers in attendance.
With the current global pandemic adding to the work of health care workers around the world, there is no exception here is PNG with the demand on the ambulance service increasing massively and expanding the role of St John.
To say that any day is standard is not possible, as any day can give you something that you never expected. Although, this also highlights how the training and knowledge we have as St John Volunteers is so valuable and useful in such a wide range of situations and that these skills are usable across any region at any time.
This has truly been an amazing adventure for both of us.
With our assignment lasting well into 2022, we are sure to have more incredible times ahead of us that will grow our clinical experience and knowledge and reinforce how important it is that people are willing to give their time and energy for something they believe in and step up to be a volunteer.
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From the words of Corey...
I have been working with St John Ambulance, Port Moresby General Hospital, and the National Department of Health and PNG Nursing Board to facilitate the ‘New Graduate Program’ and ‘Mentor the Mentor Program’ that were both ‘born’ at the Nightingale COVID Care Field Hospital that I was Acting/Assistant Director of Nursing of. From this, the strategic vision is to facilitate the standardised roles of Clinical Nurse Educators in all acute care settings throughout PNG, as opposed to only in Critical Care.
Moreover, throughout my work with these partners and organisations, I have also utilised the Australian College of Nursing to peer review and contribute to the programs and additionally, build partnerships between St John Ambulance, the Port Moresby General Hospital, and the Australian College of Nursing. This gives new graduate nurses the opportunity to complete an accredited, standardised and recognised new graduate program and transition into competent independent healthcare practitioners.
Within St John Ambulance PNG, we have both been focusing on building Ambulance Education for the national service, designing and planning to implement an introductory course to the prehospital environment of St John Ambulance, called the Basic Principles of Prehospital Care for Health Professionals. This course has been designed to further bridge the gap between hospital clinicians and SJA and setting a standard for expectations for all aspects of being a clinician within SJA, which is improving the high standards already set within SJA.
Moreover, we have created, and we are implementing a rural and remote targeted course called the Basic Emergency Life Support (BELS) course in which has been designed to equip health workers with the fundamental skills for managing medical emergencies and presentations that represent the struggling health indicators in PNG of maternal and infant mortality, snakebite victims and violence.
