“You shouldn’t be travelling, it’s stressful for the baby.”
“You should be resting.”
I heard the nurse tell the young girl.
Standing there observing as the nurse talked to the patient and checked her, I realized that there were pregnant mothers out there every day that faced these challenges helplessly in fear for their lives but there were people like this amazing organization that is committed to helping the people of Papua New Guinea when no one would or could not.
Popularly known as the ‘Green Angels’, St. John’s Ambulance is the beacon of hope for those in need of help not only here in the city but around the nation as well.
Carrying out their Festive Season Operations, they had invited the media for a ride along where we get to witness first-hand the emergency procedure that they follow both at base and at the scene.
It was a few minutes to 10pm when this call came in.
We watched as the call taker asked the caller a few questions to know the state that she was in.
We watched as the pending case file was being filled in – she (the patient) was experiencing labour pains so her case was marked as ‘Urgent’.
Given the setting in our country, at St. John’s, Childbirth cases are marked urgent as we all know it is not only the life of the mother at risk but of the child also.
The Patient was a 21 year old female from Rigo Province who had just returned from a trip from the village and was spending the night in a hotel with her husband, kids and family members.
Her vitals and blood pressure levels were normal and everything else was normal as well but she was experiencing these contractions which according to her happened every 5mins and had begun the night before whilst travelling to the village.
Upon further discussion the young couple had decided they would go to the hospital just to be on the safe side and so we transported the patient and husband to Port Moresby General Hospital Labour Ward.
As we made our way back to base, I prayed silently for God’s safety on this women and her baby and for all the Green Angels attending to cases around the city every night.
There are people who in a city full of helpless people, tend to disrespect the only people who are willing to help us no matter what and this has got to stop because at the end of the day, these are sacrificing time with their families to be on the job for the citizens of this country.
We all can sleep peacefully at night knowing we have ‘Green Angels’ risking their lives for the lives of countless others in dire need.
When no one else dares to help, trust that St. John’s Ambulance will.