This December will see the first ever Advanced Paediatric Life Support (APLS) course in Papua New Guinea.
This project has been championed by local PNG paediatrician and recent APLS instructor Dr Kone Sobe and Dr Zafar Smith (pictured above), an emergency physician based in Australia.
Dr Sobe and Dr Smith met for the first time in May this year to start the preparations. There was overwhelming interest and support from the wider APLS community with over 30 applications from people wanting to help and instruct on the course.
An experienced team of five instructors from anesthetic, emergency, intensive care, and pediatric backgrounds – who have all traveled to Papua New Guinea in the past – will venture to Port Moresby to facilitate a course for 12 candidates that include local PNG emergency doctors, paediatric staff, anesthetic staff and nurses.
This is the first time that such a course has been carried out in Port Moresby, with staff from multiple disciplines coming together to learn and share their experiences. This is also a unique partnership between APLS and YWAM Medical Ships who will be supplying the venue and accommodation for the course.
Instructors will sleep on board the MV YWAM PNG which will be docked in the Port Moresby harbour, and local PNG candidates will come on board each day to attend the course which will be carried out in the ship’s meeting facilities.
Simulation equipment including mannequins and scenario materials will be donated to the PNG medical staff to use for ongoing training and future APLS courses. This will hopefully be the first of many APLS courses to be run in PNG over the coming years.
For more information on APLS International, visit apls.org.au/international
Dr Zafar Smith
on behalf of APLS International
Featured image: Dr Zafar Smith in front of Port Moresby Hospital.
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