St John Ambulance (officially, the National St John Council of Papua New Guinea) is a health and humanitarian charity that operates the national

ambulance An ambulance is a medically equipped vehicle which transports patients to treatment facilities, such as hospitals. Typically, out-of-hospital medical care is provided to the patient during the transport. Ambulances are used to respond to medi ...

service in

Papua New Guinea Papua New Guinea (abbreviated PNG; , ; tpi, Papua Niugini; ho, Papua Niu Gini), officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea ( tpi, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niugini; ho, Independen Stet bilong Papua Niu Gini), is a country i ...

. It is an association of the International Order of St John. St John Ambulance provides ambulance and air medical services in

for and on behalf of the PNG Government. St John’s ambulance service is funded by the PNG government, partners, and its own fundraising. St John also provides first aid and basic health education.

Services

St John provides a range of prehospital and primary care services. They also provide health education such as first aid training, first aid in schools, the School of Prehospital Care in Port Moresby. As a means of fundraising for the free public ambulance service, St John teaches first aid and sells first aid kits and medical supplies to the public. St John's Ambulance Stations in Papua New Guinea

* Ambulance Stations **

Port Moresby (; Tok Pisin: ''Pot Mosbi''), also referred to as Pom City or simply Moresby, is the capital and largest city of Papua New Guinea. It is one of the largest cities in the southwestern Pacific (along with Jayapura) outside of Australia and New ...

, National Capital District ** Central Province **

Kokopo Kokopo is the capital of East New Britain Province in Papua New Guinea. It is administered under Kokopo-Vunamami Urban LLG. The capital was moved from Rabaul in 1994 when the volcanoes Tavurvur and Vulcan erupted. As a result, the population of ...

/ Rabaul,

East New Britain East New Britain is a province of Papua New Guinea, consisting of the north-eastern part of the island of New Britain and the Duke of York Islands. The capital of the province is Kokopo, not far from the old capital of Rabaul, which was largely de ...

** Lae, Morobe ** Kundiawa, Chimbu (2021) * Air Medical Stations ** Fixed-wing - Tropicair PNG, Port Moresby ** Rotary-wing (helicopter) - Manolos Aviation (Lae) and Helifix (POM)

History

St John in Papua New Guinea was first established by the New South Wales Branch of St John in 1957. When PNG became an independent state within the Commonwealth, the Parliament established St John as a statutory body through the ''St John Council Incorporation Act 1976''. In 1983 St John Ambulance took over the responsibility for providing the National Government’s ambulance services in the Southern region. In 2008, St John Ambulance was honored on a 50 toea coin. In 2008, St John Ambulance stationed an ambulance in Kupiano, making it the first rural region in the country to have ambulance service. In October 2010, St John Ambulance raised ambulance fees from K10 to K60 in the face of budget pressures. Fuel per patient cost approximately K170 at the time. St John Ambulance services were suspended in November 2010 due to funding problems. In 2015, St John Ambulance again suspended operations due to financial issues. St John Ambulance officials said that the PNG government had failed to pay the amount earmarked for the organization, which the PNG government denied. St John Ambulance played an important part in Papua New Guinea's response to the COVID-19 pandemic. St John worked with the government to establish a large field hospital, and operate a drive-thru testing centre in Port Moresby.

References

{{Reflist St John Ambulance Ambulance services Medical and health organisations based in Papua New Guinea