Course Calendar

PRIME Course Postponement - Omicron

Due to the imminent COVID-19 Omicron health crisis currently upon the Health Sector, a joint decision has been made between NASO, ACC and St John that we are postponing the delivery for all PRIME Initial and Refresher courses from 28 February until 30 June 2022.

This will enable PRIME providers to remain in their communities delivering the health services required over this period of increased workload and not drawing them away from the critical deliverables of services they provide. Secondly, this also removes the exposure risks for multiple health professionals in the close quarter classroom settings.

Once we are allowed to run PRIME courses again, we will be in touch with those that have been directly affected by this delay to reschedule your course. If you do not receive a email from us, please contact us on the below email address.

The PRIME national Committee will also be looking at providing webinar series of education topics for the providers on a regular basis.

For practitioners who are nearing the expiration of the PRIME qualification and having a PRIME refresher postponed, we are currently talking to NASO & ACC about a 3 -6-month extension so you can continue delivering PRIME services. This is similar to what happened in the 2021 lockdown periods.

If you have any questions, please email PRIME.Support@stjohn.org.nz.

PLEASE NOTE: COVID-19 Vaccine passes will be mandated for all attendees to show at the PRIME courses.

Welcome to the PRIME course, a training programme designed to prepare rural health practitioners for their role as members of the emergency response team in the PRIME system of out-of-hospital emergency care.

The purpose of PRIME is to supplement the ambulance service to provide timely access to clinical skills that have the potential to improve outcomes for patients in rural areas. PRIME aims to ensure access to high-quality out-of-hospital emergency care in areas where there is a shortage of suitably trained paramedics, or where ambulance service rural response times may be longer than usual.

The course has a predominately practical focus to consolidate skills such as high performance CPR, trauma and acute medical emergency management. The course includes principles of triage, major incident management, teamwork with ambulance and fire officers, patient extrication and transport considerations as they apply in the rural setting.

Important information about course bookings

The initial course is five days, Mon – Fri (40 hours), the refresher is one day (Sat or Sun) 8 hours.

The PRIME course booking system will prioritise those who are employed by a medical practice that holds a PRIME contract, so other bookings may be put onto a waiting list to accommodate this. We do not guarantee a place on a course for non-PRIME contract holders and they may be moved to waiting lists even once confirmed if we require that space.

You must hold a NZ Medical Registration (HPCA 2003) to attend this course and it is recommended that you also hold at least a resuscitation certificate to Level 6, and have had some other experience in emergency medicine. IV certification is required for attending this course.

If you have any queries with regard to your booking please email PRIME.support@stjohn.org.nz.

Palmerston North

18.07.2022 - 8.30am to 5pm
19.07.2022 - 8.30am to 5pm
20.07.2022 - 8.30am to 5pm
21.07.2022 - 8.30am to 5pm
22.07.2022 - 8.30am to 5pm