What is/was the challenge?
St John Ambulance Kenya has an existing training department in Nairobi, who offer training to the government, corporates, and members of the public.
The challenge is that there is a rising number of private ambulances (in Nairobi alone, there are 20+), county government ambulances (there are 47 counties) and emergency departments across the country – this is a result of county devolution.
Thus, there is a rising demand for skilled personnel to man these ambulances and emergency departments.
What was your response?
We are developing the St John Training College. Via the College, we will be able to offer Licensing, Accreditation and Certification, allowing our graduates to practice in Kenya.
We will offer three levels of the EMT (Emergency Medical Technicians) Programme: a 2year Certificate; a 3year Diploma and a 2year Upgrade track for those who already hold one of our Certificates.
We expect our students to come from our current volunteer pool, cadets who have finished school, health care professionals who would like to expand their skillsets, and the public.
In the short term, we will expand and diversify our offerings based on the evolving emergency pre-hospital care and disaster management environment’s needs. We would then like to establish campuses across different counties to meet their local needs. We will then look to establish constituent colleges (where possible) in other African countries to meet their needs in the emergency pre-hospital care and disaster management space.
This approach is led by our St John value of Excellence: through our vision for our Training College to be internationally recognised as a “Centre of Excellence committed to offering world-class pre-hospital emergency medical care”, we will be delivering modern care to a high standard, with a clear focus on impact and efficiency. All those involved in the delivery of our training will keep up to date with the latest standards and all our services will be delivered with compassion, to the highest level, ensuring those in most need get the care they require from those we have trained.
What has been your biggest piece of learning from your work this year?
Dr. James Wanjangi, CEO, shares: As a new CEO (6 months) my biggest piece of learning has been the need to use a systematic approach when addressing the Priory and the direction I wish to see it grow into. I have adopted a Fix | Care | Growth approach. Different areas in the organisation are essential in any of the 3 areas and the goal is to identify where things are and address them based on the box they fit in. For example – the St. John College would sit under the growth area.
You can read the rest of our Annual Report for 2023 here.
