Following ongoing reports of less than optimum performance, Special Assignment investigates the state of emergency services in one Gauteng metropolitan area and in the Northern Cap e, a largely rural province.
Poor response times, broken equipment and inadequate staffing are just some of the issues dogging the services. But there are also external factors that affect delivery.
In urban areas, demand for emergency services has escalated as people flock to the cities in search of work. Clogged roads and highways slow down ambulances and fire engines, while unmarked houses make navigation difficult in informal settlements and some townships. All too often it’s the poor who suffer most.
But poor management is also affecting the services. A recent internal report slated the emergency services in Gauteng. Ambulances are filthy, and, at any one time, only half the fleet is on the road. The rest are waiting for repair.
Official figures for response times to Priority 1 calls – which are life-threatening – fall way below the international standard of 80% within 12 minutes. In Tshwane and Johannesburg about 20% of calls are responded to within 15 minutes. Ekurhuleni is better at 49%.
Like many rural areas, the Northern Cap e struggles to attract qualified staff. Emergency services are no different. There is not one advanced life support paramedic in the entire province, so acute emergency patients don’t get the treatment that should be available. And more often than not, ambulances have only one paramedic on board, who has to drive and tend to patients.
Training would help alleviate the problems, but colleges don’t turn out enough graduates to fill all the vacancies. Only two government colleges offer advanced life support courses, and they are in Gauteng and KZN, so it’s difficult for students to find a place there. Many are keen to upgrade their skills but find their applications to train further rejected.
A Matter of Life and Death is produced by: Sasha Wales-Smith and was filmed by Japan Mathebulo.
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