By nurses, for nurses: PNG delivers first all-nursing BEC course

Papua New Guinea has marked a new chapter in national Basic Emergency Care (BEC) training, with the successful delivery of the region’s first BEC provider and training-of-trainers (ToT) courses taught entirely by nurses, to nurses. The courses were hosted in Port Moresby from the 18th to the 22nd of August, led by local facilitators from Port Moresby General Hospital (PMGH), National St John Ambulance PNG (NSJA PNG), and ANGAU Memorial Provincial Hospital (AMPH).

Image 1: The PNG nursing faculty responsible for the delivery of the recent Basic Emergency Care (BEC) course in Port Moresby. [L-R: Angela Kapao (PMGH), Wilma Sebby (AMPH), Marcia Willie (PMGH), Idana Enai (NSJA PNG), Samantha Maison (PMGH)].

For the first time, an all-nursing team of BEC trainers led the delivery of the courses, showcasing the capability and leadership of PNG’s nursing workforce and equipping nursing leaders from 14 provinces with essential, life-saving skills in emergency assessment and management. The 18 participants included representatives from nursing schools across PNG as well as a representative from the National Department of Health (NDOH), ensuring broad national representation and alignment with health system priorities.

“For nurses to teach nurses, it’s a good thing. We’re speaking the same language and we know that nurses are the frontliners for any healthcare system. When a nurse is teaching, they will better understand us. We’re kind of using the same language”, said Sr Wilma Sebby, PNG’s first nursing BEC Master Trainer.

Image 2 and 3: Sr Wilma Sebby, Emergency Department Nurse Unit Manager of ANGAU Memorial Provincial Hospital was PNG’s first nursing BEC Master Trainer.

The BEC course was developed by the World Health Organization (WHO) in collaboration with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) and the International Federation for Emergency Medicine (IFEM).  It is designed for first contact providers of emergency care in resource constrained settings and provides a safe and structured approach to managing acutely ill and injured patients.  

“Basic emergency care training is very important for PNG nurses because it improves our everyday practice as care givers whether in the pre-hospital setting or in the health facility to follow a systematic approach when dealing with life threatening conditions. It also helps us to do proper handover and transfers between facilities or from pre-hospital care to the health facility so that the patient care is effectively carried out or continued”, said Sr Marcia Willie, BEC Course Coordinator.

Image 4 and 5: Sr Marcia Willie, BEC Master Trainer and Course Coordinator, from Port Moresby General Hospital Emergency Department.

As nursing leaders, participants are now positioned to cascade these skills to colleagues in their provinces and institutions, multiplying the impact nationwide. This training contributes to the existing BEC trained workforce in PNG, which includes over 130 healthcare workers that have completed BEC training.  The training also led to the credentialing of two participants as additional registered BEC trainers, who are now certified to deliver courses independently.

“As a Master Trainer, having this opportunity to teach BEC to my fellow nursing colleagues from around the country enables us to speak the same language and gives us the confidence to continue to reach out to as many nurses as we can and to train them so that they can become BEC providers”, reported Sr Willie.

Participant Dorcas Kurah from the West New Britain School of Nursing commented, “It is something that we will teach our students and they will learn from that, especially from theory to practice. It will really help us in our training so we are not left behind here as educators. When we go back, for sure, we can move this Basic Emergency Care nursing to our other colleagues.”

Image 6: Dorcas Kurah from West New Britain School of Nursing demonstrating practical teaching

skills during the ToT.

Support for nursing BEC training was reflected by the attendance of several key nursing and emergency care leaders that attended the certificate ceremony following the course. This included Dr Desmond Aisi, Chief of Emergency Medicine for PNG; Ms Mary Kililo, Technical Advisor in the Human Resources Training Section at the NDOH; Sr Thelma Ali, Acting Nursing Council Registrar; Sr Romanah Kuaisombi, Incoming Nursing Council Registrar; Mr Frederick Kebai, President of the PNG Nurses Association; and Ms Elvina Yaru, Australian High Commission Assistant Program Manager. Additionally, the ToT course was opened by Dr Garry Nou, PNG’s Deputy National Chief of Emergency Medicine and PNG Emergency Medical Teams (EMT) National Team Lead.

Images 7- 11 [L-R]: Dr Desmond Aisi, Chief of Emergency Medicine for PNG; Ms Mary Kililo, Technical Advisor in the Human Resources Training Section at the NDOH; Sr Thelma Ali, Acting Nursing Council Registrar; Sr Romanah Kuaisombi, Incoming Nursing Council Registrar; Ms Elvina Yaru, Australian High Commission Assistant Program Manager; and Dr Garry Nou, PNG Deputy Chief of Emergency Medicine and PNG EMT National Team Lead.

This training program is contributing to the World Health Organization’s 25 x 25 Basic Emergency Care Saves Lives campaign, which was launched by the World Health Organization’s Chief Nursing Officer in 2023.

This course was delivered as a partnership between the Regional Emergency and Critical Care Systems Strengthening Initiative (RECSI) and the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Technology Sydney (WHO CCNM UTS). Both programs are supported by the Australian Government through the Partnerships for a Healthy Region (PHR) initiative. Course delivery has been actively supported by RECSI’s implementing partner National St John Ambulance PNG.

“The momentum that BEC training has in PNG is amazing, and to see nurses showing such strength in leadership and education is inspiring. The commitment to learning, to sharing knowledge, and to serving communities shown by the nursing workforce will have an impact on the patients they care for and the broader health system they work in”, said Sarah Bornstein, RECSI’s Emergency Care Nursing Advisor.

Image 12: BEC course faculty; L-R: Sr Idana Enai (NSJA PNG), Sr Marcia Willie (PMGH), Sr Sarah Bornstein (RECSI), Sr Wilma Sebby (AMPH), Sr Samantha Maison(PMGH), Sr Angela Kapao (PMGH).

Further BEC courses will be supported by the RECSI program, including in East New Britain in November 2025 and an additional course in Port Moresby for Community Health Worker educators, to be delivered in November again in partnership with WHO CCNM UTS.