Tuesday 26 October 2021
A United Kingdom Emergency Medical Team comprising ten members, is in the country to help support the local teams in the COVID-19 response.
They will be in the country for six weeks and will be based at the Mt Hagen General Hospital, Western Highlands Province, one of the worst affected areas during this third wave of COVID-19.
This is the first time a UK EMT has been deployed in Papua New Guinea and the Government is grateful for its quick response to its request for assistance.
“We are grateful that UK EMT has come. We need a lot of extra hands to help our health workers many of whom are already exhausted from working long hours,’’ said Controller of the National Pandemic Response Mr David Manning.
“The limited health workers we have in the health facilities are stressed out following the rise in COVID-19 cases. Many are also getting infected and when they stay out for a couple of weeks or so to recover, those left behind have to fill in their hours and end up getting burned out after awhile.’’
The UK EMT deployment in the country is being funded by the British Government as part of the bilateral relationship with PNG and its people, and was invited to support health services, currently under severe pressure.
They will be providing urgent care to seriously and critically ill patients; ensuring with PNG colleagues adequate infection prevention and control measures to stop further
spread of the disease; supporting community engagement strategies to reduce the spread of the virus, training and skill transfers to local staff.
The UK-EMT Team Lead Peter Sykes says: “We are proud to represent the UK Emergency Medical Team in Papua New Guinea, grateful for the support of the UK’s Foreign Commonwealth & Development Office, and will do all we can to support PNG’s efforts to fight this pandemic and bring it under control. Our expert team will be providing critical medical care to patients suffering with COVID-19 and support to national health staff, already engaged in coping with the rapid spread of a third wave of the virus.”
The UK EMT consists of Intensive Care Unit specialists, Emergency Department specialists, paramedic and nurses.
Media contact: Maureen Gerawa : email: maureengerawa@gmail.com
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