The Canberra Health and Samoa Emergency Education team (CHaSE) have been in Samoa for over a week now providing much needed teaching and training for Samoa’s Faculty of Medicine (FOM) medical students and the doctors and nurses at the National Health Service of Samoa.

This relationship developed from an idea by Ms Andrea Wilson who lived in Samoa for over 2 years with her husband Scott who was working with SPREP. Andrea shared her love for Samoa and on returning to their home town of Canberra last year, and a desire to return to Samoa and give back in any way she could. 

Andrea was able to find like minded individuals in her place of employment, the Canberra Hospital and organised a team of 10 strong doctors and nurses from the Canberra hospital emergency department to come and provide an intense teaching and training program around Advance Cardiac life support, trauma situations and management of medical emergencies.

Today is their last day in a full intensive 6 days of training and this morning a few members came down to the FOM to donate two much needed manniquins to assist the FOM with its teaching of cardiorespiratory resuscitation to its medical students. The manniquins were sourced especially for the FOM by ChaSE from the ACT Ambulance Training Division in Canberra.

The FOM are in discussions with CHaSE to see how they can continue to support the FOM curriculum to teach cardiorespiratory resuscitation and management of trauma and medical emergencies annually.

 Members of the CHaSE team included Dr Suzanne Smallbane, Dr David Lamond, Dr Gerrard Marmor, Dr Russel Thomas, Dr Scott Brennan, Dr Sahrah Simpson, RN Gillian Ible, RN Robina Lentell, RN Tracey Lea and led by RN Andrea Wilson.