The Interplast team were back in action supporting the delivery of the Emergency Management of Severe Burns (EMSB) program in the Western Division of Fiji.
We have been delivering this program in partnership with the Australian & New Zealand Burns Association (ANZBA) for the past 20 years. Its primary aim is to teach health professionals how to recognise, assess, stabilise and transfer the severely burnt patient.
With the support of the Australian Government and the Fiji Ministry of Health and Medical Services (MHMS), our team delivered this program to 26 participants and equip 13 of the cohort with the capacity to deliver this program without intervention from international volunteers.
This trip builds on our success earlier in the year, where Interplast was able to run this course outside of Suva in the Central District for the first time since the pandemic. This was the first time the EMSB course was delivered to clinicians in the Western District. Building their capacity to treat patients locally reduces wait times for care and relieves the burden on services in Suva to meet the demand of the whole nation.
Acknowledgements
Interplast would like to thank Dr Semesa Matanaicake, Rebecca Schrale and Dr Craig Quarmby for their hard work and expertise in delivering this vital training.
This program was delivered in partnership with the Australian Government through the Australian NGO Cooperation Program (ANCP).
