They come from the Austral Islands, the Tuamotus, the Leeward Islands and the Marquesas. Since 2019, health professionals from the non-specialized islands have been coming to Tahiti to improve their skills and emergency technical procedures. “We have role-playing exercises, we have speakers who explain everything physiological to us… and then we also do field work.” says Anne Madiouni, a nurse in Bora Bora.
(Photo credit: Tahiti Nui Television)
Funded by the Health Department and implemented by the CESU and the CHPF, these training courses aim to standardize procedures, but also to reassure isolated doctors and nurses. “The worst place to work in French Polynesia is to be in a position, isolated, all alone, at 10 p.m. in the evening. There is this apprehension. Our job, in these training courses, is really to demystify all that, and give them the keys to good communication, good preparation, with the tools they have (…) to provide the best possible care for patients. Because depending on the position they are in, it is not the same means, not the same equipment, not the same patients. There are islands where there are no airports, no possibility of evacuation at night.” explains Bertrand Remaudiere, head of the SAMU service and CESU trainer.
And if these trainings are essential for professionals, they are also essential for patients. “It’s important for people who have serious illnesses like us, to help us, so that we can stay at home with our families.” says Edouard Teaotea, a patient from Maupiti.
(Photo credit: Tahiti Nui Television)
(Photo credit: Tahiti Nui Television)
Today, nearly a hundred nurses and forty doctors work on the islands. But due to logistical difficulties, lack of premises and replacements, CESU training courses can only accommodate 10 students at a time.
The next sessions will take place in September and November.
