Mereoni thankful for opportunity to serve
Mereoni Marama is thankful for the opportunity to serve the public by being certified to administer emergency care.
She is the only female among officers from the National Fire Authority (NFA) and the St John Ambulance who have completed an intensive Pre-hospital Emergency Care training workshop.
The 20 officers were presented with their certificates on Friday at the St John’s headquarters in Suva.
Ms Marama, who has been an ambulance officer with the St John’s since 2013, said the training would allow her to better respond to emergencies in terms of providing the right care because the organisation was the first point of contact with patients in such situations.
“The two-week programme was very challenging. We had to learn a lot of medical concepts and it involved lots of practical training,” she said.
“But now I am better familiarised because the training taught me to do so much more than what I was capable of before.” Originally from Bau Island, Ms Marama joined the St John Ambulance in 2008 as a volunteer and took on a permanent role in 2013.
She is currently based at their headquarters in Suva.
“People call us in all kinds of emergencies, whether its motor vehicle, fire or in times of natural disasters so we have to be prepared to respond to all these immediately and ef- fectively,” Ms Marama added.
Rahmat Khan, the facilitator for the programme, said this training was the highest level at the moment in Fiji for pre-hospital emergency care.
“This training is mostly designed for first responders such as ambulance officers,” he said.
“It was attended by staff of St John Ambulance and NFA from all around the country.” Mr Khan, who has been a facilitator with Saint John Ambulance for the past 38 years, added that the training aimed to enhance capabilities of officers when dealing with emergencies because they were often the first to respond to people who needed immediate attention.
But now I am better equipped because the training taught me to do so much more than what I was capable of before. Mereoni Marama St John Ambulance officer