Emergency Medicine in Samoa

14/10/2026

🌺 Celebrating Our Everyday Heroes in Emergency Care! 🌺

Today, we proudly celebrate and honour all Emergency Nurses across Samoa and throughout the Pacific! 🌏💙

Behind every emergency is a dedicated nurse who remains calm under pressure, offers comfort in times of fear, and works tirelessly to save lives.

❤️ Your courage inspires us.
💙 Your compassion brings hope.
💚 Your resilience keeps us strong.
💛 Your dedication makes a difference.

To our incredible Emergency Department nursing team at Tupua Tamasese Meaole Hospital, thank you for your sacrifices, teamwork, commitment.

✨ Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear nursing uniforms, work through the night and hold a patient’s hand when they need it most.

🌺 Ia manuia tele le aso fa’apitoa mo tatou Tausisoifua o le Vaega o Fa’alavelave Fa’afuase’i. Fa’afetai mo lo outou alofa, onosa’i ma le tautua lē fa’atua’oia mo si o tatou atunu’u.

💙 Proud to be an Emergency Nurse!
💙 Proud to be part of the Pacific Emergency Care Family!

Happy Emergency Nurses’ Day from the Samoa Emergency Department! 🇼🇸🚑







💙

12/10/2026

Today, our ED team participated in another informative Grand Round focusing on Electrolyte Imbalance, an important condition that can become life-threatening if not recognised and treated early.

A big Fa’amalo and thank you to Dr Albert for sharing his knowledge and delivering such an informative presentation to our team.

💙 A HEALTH MESSAGE TO OUR COMMUNITY

Don’t wait until it’s too late to seek medical help!

Severe dehydration and electrolyte imbalances can lead to serious complications, including abnormal heart rhythms, seizures, and shock.

🚨 Seek medical attention early if you experience:
✅ Persistent vomiting or diarrhoea
✅ Severe weakness or dizziness
✅ Muscle cramps or unusual fatigue
✅ Reduced urine output or signs of dehydration
✅ Palpitations or an irregular heartbeat

Severe confusion, fainting, or collapse requires immediate emergency care.

🇼🇸 O SE FE’AU MO LE MAMALU LAUTELE

Aua le fa’atali se’i tigaina lou gasegase ona fa’ato’a saili lea o se fesoasoani fa’afoma’i.

💙 Early recognition saves lives. Early treatment prevents complications.

Together, we continue to learn, improve, and provide safer emergency care for our people.

30/09/2026

We are proud to share that our Charge Nurse, Aruna Uno Suemalo Lautusi, recently had the privilege of completing month-long observership with The Alfred Emergency & Trauma Centre Bayside Health Alfred in Melbourne, supported through a scholarship from the Regional Emergency and Critical Care Systems Strengthening Initiative.

Her observership concluded with attendance at the Global Emergency & Critical Care Symposium 2026, bringing together emergency and critical care professionals to share experiences, strengthen regional collaboration, and discuss practical solutions for improving care.

Aruna is one of several of our colleagues who have benefited from scholarship opportunities through RECSI, providing valuable exposure, professional development, and opportunities to bring new knowledge and experiences back to our Emergency Department and health service.

We are grateful to RECSI and Alfred Health for continuing to invest in the development of our emergency care workforce and for strengthening the connections between emergency care teams across the region.

Congratulations Aruna, and welcome home!

29/09/2026

Our Emergency Department team continues to learn, strengthen our clinical skills and work together to provide safe, timely and compassionate emergency care to our community. 🇼🇸

🫀 MONDAY EDUCATION SESSION
Our Monday Simulation time was dedicated to a presentation by Dr Bridget on:
“Arrhythmias in the Emergency Department.”

🌡️ TUESDAY GRAND ROUND
Topic: Undifferentiated Fever in the Emergency Department
Presenter: Dr Elisha

These regular education sessions help our doctors and nurses stay prepared for the wide range of emergencies we see every day.

💡 ED HEALTH TIPS FOR OUR COMMUNITY

❤️ Know the warning signs of a heart rhythm problem.
Seek urgent medical attention if you experience a racing or irregular heartbeat together with chest pain, difficulty breathing, severe dizziness, fainting or collapse.

🌡️ Fever is often the body’s response to infection.
Rest, drink adequate fluids and monitor your symptoms. Take extra care with babies, young children, older adults and people with underlying medical conditions.

🚨 Seek urgent medical care for fever if there is:
• Difficulty breathing
• Confusion or unusual drowsiness
• Seizure or collapse
• Severe weakness or dehydration
• Persistent vomiting
• Severe headache with neck stiffness
• A rapidly worsening condition
• A baby or child who appears very unwell

🇼🇸 FEAU MO LE SOIFUA MĀLŌLŌINA

❤️ Afai ua tātāvale pe lē masani le tātā o le fatu, aemaise pe a iai le tiga o le fatafata, tau lē mānava, niniva tele, matapogia pe paʻū, ia vave saili se fesoasoani faafomaʻi.

21/09/2026

Yesterday, we started our day together with a morning prayer led by our Orientee, Thomas, committing our team, our patients, and the work ahead into God’s hands.

Our scheduled ED Simulation Session was then utilized for our Mortality Meeting, presented by Dr Jancey.

A big FA’AMĀLŌ and thank you to Dr Jancey for presenting the case and leading an important discussion with our team. These meetings allow us to reflect, learn from our experiences, and identify ways to continuously improve the quality and safety of patient care.

Fa’afetai tele lava to Dr Jancey, and everyone who participated.

We begin with prayer, we learn together, and we continue to grow stronger as one ED team.

17/09/2026

This week’s Grand Round was presented by Dr Gataiala Penn, one of our rotating interns, who delivered a valuable session on Antimicrobial Stewardship in the Emergency Department.

The Emergency Department plays an important role in ensuring antibiotics are used appropriately. Every prescribing decision matters, choosing the right antibiotic, for the right patient, at the right dose and for the right duration.

Antimicrobial stewardship helps improve patient care, reduce unnecessary antibiotic use and adverse effects, and plays an important part in addressing the growing challenge of antimicrobial resistance.

It was also great to see one of our rotating interns contributing to our weekly teaching programme, sharing knowledge and encouraging discussion within the team.

Malo lava Dr Gataiala Penn for taking the time to prepare and present such an important topic.

Another week, another opportunity to learn and improve.

In Emergency Medicine, the learning never stops.

15/09/2026

Standing in support of our Emergency Department colleagues in Tauranga, New Zealand.

Their message also gives us reason to reflect. We face similar pressures, and at times we may have become too accustomed to overcrowding, workforce shortages and working beyond capacity, treating it as “normal.”

Perhaps it shouldn’t be.
Normalising unsafe pressure can affect staff wellbeing, patient safety and the quality of care we provide.

We stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Tauranga and across Aotearoa.

"We are often working at more than 150-200% capacity, and I cannot recall any recent day when the ED was not running at over 100% capacity."

"Ultimately, patients pay the price for hospitals that are continuously understaffed and under-resourced.."

- John Wylie, Tōpūtanga Tapuhi Kaitiaki o Aotearoa NZNO delegate

Link to full media release in comment section.

14/09/2026

Another Monday means another opportunity for our Emergency Department team to learn, practise, and prepare.

Our weekly SimDays are not only about testing clinical skills. They are an important reminder of how we respond when an emergency happens — who does what, where to go, how to communicate, how to work together, and how to act quickly when every second counts.

In emergency care, we cannot wait for a real emergency to remember what to do.

Regular simulation helps reinforce our emergency response systems, refresh important skills, identify areas we can improve, and build confidence across the whole team. The more we practise together, the better prepared we are to respond together.

That is why our weekly teaching sessions matter. Even when the topic feels familiar, repetition is important. Guidelines change, teams change, skills need refreshing, and there is always something we can improve.

Every session is another opportunity to strengthen our teamwork, communication, clinical decision-making, and ultimately the care we provide to our patients.

Practice creates readiness.
Readiness builds confidence.
And confidence matters when emergencies happen.

Another Monday. Another SimDay. Another step towards a stronger Emergency Department.

07/09/2026

Today at our ED Grand Round, RN Vaasiliega Taefu Joseph Fauatea presented on an essential part of everyday nursing practice: Nursing Documentation and Clinical Handover.

In a busy Emergency Department, good patient care doesn’t stop with the clinical intervention. What we document and how we communicate matters.

Today’s session was also a great reminder for nurses and doctors that there is always room for improvement.

Even the things we do every day deserve revisiting. Good habits can become better habits, and strengthening the basics ultimately strengthens the care we provide to our patients.

A big fa’afetai tele lava to Vaasiliega for leading today’s discussion and reminding the team that good documentation and good handover are not simply paperwork, they are part of patient care.
Document clearly. Handover effectively. Keep our patients safe.

07/09/2026

Last week was a big week for Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS)!

Our Emergency Department collaborated with our colleagues from the Anaesthesia Department and visiting overseas faculty to deliver POCUS training for doctors working across different areas of healthcare.

We were pleased to welcome doctors from our district hospitals, as well as clinicians from the main hospital representing Paediatrics, Obstetrics & Gynecology, Internal Medicine and Outpatients, alongside colleagues from the private sector.

And for the first time, we were especially excited to welcome a doctor from American Samoa to join us for POCUS training, another step towards strengthening clinical education and connections across our Pacific region.

We also extend our sincere appreciation to the World Health Organization Western Pacific Region (WHO) for its support of this training and its continued contribution towards strengthening healthcare capacity in Samoa.

POCUS is becoming an increasingly valuable bedside tool, particularly in Emergency, Acute and Critic Care, where rapid assessment and timely clinical decisions can make a significant difference.

A huge fa'afetai tele lava to our Anaesthesia colleagues, our visiting faculty, everyone who helped organise and support the training, and every clinician who made the time to attend.

Most importantly, we hope the skills gained are taken back to our hospitals, departments and communities improving access to bedside ultrasound wherever our patients present.

Building POCUS capacity in Samoa and strengthening connections across our Pacific region.