Four St John PNG staff have settled in well after a month now in New Zealand.
Despite the cold climatic conditions, the warmth of hospitality by Zealanders is all the reassurance they need to make New Zealand their home for the duration of their stay.
Philemon Jethro, Ganzi Katio, David Kivovia and Jasmine Kum are attending a four-month pre-hospital training in Palmerston North, New Zealand.
The training will be facilitated by St John New Zealand.
The four will undergo a First Responder Course and three will remain on to complete a Diploma in Ambulance Practice (Paramedicine).
St John Commissioner, Matthew Cannon, is pleased to see that the four have embraced this opportunity.
He sent them knowing fully well that they will be true ambassadors of St John PNG and Papua New Guinea whilst in the land of the long white clouds.
Cannon said: “St John PNG provides the best possible ambulance care we can.
“It is my team’s passion to seek development opportunities for our rising pool of pre-hospital care professionals in an effort to give better care to our patients; to grow, we should never sit still - so to speak.”
The Commissioner thanked the New Zealand government for funding scholarships for the short-term technical training.
David Kivovia, who is the St John Education Manager with the Training Arm, said the team has settled in well and has just completed week five of training.
“The High-Performance Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation or CPR done here is very different from the one we do. We are privileged to now have this skill.
“We are excited about this training and will return with more skills and knowledge to contribute to this wonderful humanitarian organisation and help more Papua New Guineans either as patients or imparting the equivalent knowledge and skills in paramedicine to upcoming ambulance officers.”