Like hospitals and other emergency services, St John ambulance operations centre was in the normal swing of things – answering calls for help.
Anticipating an increase in the number of emergency incidents during the holiday season, more emergency ambulance crews were rostered on duty to meet the demand over the long Christmas weekend.
From Friday evening to Tuesday morning, 17 ambulances were on duty in Lae, Kokopo, Kupiano Bereina, and Port Moresby, responding to 370 emergency incidents.
From Sunday evening to Tuesday morning, ambulance crews responded to 162 emergency calls during the St John Ambulance (SJA) Christmas operation.
The distribution of these calls revealed a high demand on Christmas Eve (50 incidents), Christmas Day (49 incidents), and Christmas night (63 incidents).
The breakdown of emergency incidents by location showed that Port Moresby topped the list with 78 incidents, followed by Lae with 44, Central with 27, and Kokopo with 13.
The nature of emergencies varied widely and included snakebites, gastrointestinal issues, respiratory issues, motor vehicle accidents, obstetric/maternal complications, childbirth, trauma, and more.
Two of his incident types that stood out during Operation Christmas are particularly noteworthy:
violence and trauma-related incidents – totalling 25 incidents.
In addition, the ambulance service accompanied 26 women to the hospital for childbirth and follow-up during the holidays.
Looking ahead, the ambulance service is anticipating an even busier New Year weekend as communities continue to celebrate the holiday season.
SJA thanks the communities for their support in ensuring a safe Christmas operation for our ambulance crew.