Opening of Emergency Care Assistant Course 13th Oct 2009

1. Distinguished & Invited Guests
2. The Dean of Staff of Fiji School of Medicine
3. Fellow Participants
4. Ladies and Gentlemen
I am greatly honoured to be part of this historic occasion.

The Ministry of Health, is working on overdrive to provide timely interventions to handle accidents and other life threatening conditions that require immediate transfer to health facilities. Non-communicable as well as communicable diseases continue to challenge our health system. In addition Road traffic casualties and unprecedented disaster threats remain with the possibilities to inflict adverse impacts on the health of vulnerable communities Fiji wide.

It is in this context that the government took up the challenge to establish an ambulance service with the ability to respond promptly and effectively to emergency situations in the country so as to save lives, prevent further injury and to promote early recovery.

The main objective of the National Ambulance Service is to provide timely pre-hospital medical care in order to reduce the number of deaths from accident and emergencies on our roads, in our work places and in our homes.

In order to facilitate a smooth implementation of ambulance services, it is imperative that all ambulance officers or emergency responders must undergo formal training in the field of para-medicine.

The Fiji School of Medicine has taken the lead in this role and responded on time to successfully develop and run this first Short Course on Emergency Care, which aims to teach the skills, and competencies required of an Emergency Care Assistant.

This forum will not only teach us how to plan, prepare, and respond to any emergency, but it will also allow participants to share their ideas, field experience and perhaps work towards a more coordinated response among government and non government authorities during times of emergency.

Ladies and Gentlemen, as we run this Course for the first time I must point out that there is no human endeavour without problems and this forum is not an exception.

Also the National Ambulance Service expects experimental problems as we attempt to revamp the delivery of the ambulance and emergency service. The problems that are confronting us are similar to those of all newly established institutions in developing countries however, we are determined to overcome them and to ensure the sustainability of the National Ambulance Service.

I take this opportunity to urge all participants to make the best of this training and its related practical activities, and please be reminded that this is the beginning of our plan to build capacity of our cadre of selected personnel on emergency care and disaster health.

As the saying goes “If you fail to prepare, you prepare to fail”

And with that statement, I challenge all organizations involved in crisis situations to cooperate with each other in times of emergencies.

On behalf of the Government and My Ministry I wish to thank all who have contributed to the development of this Course for this kind gesture of theirs, and my Best Wishes to all Participants and Facilitators.

Now, I declare this Workshop Open, Thank you.

 Dr Neil Sharma.
Minister of Health