Emergency services personnel in the Western Cape have welcomed the provincial health authorities’ plans to keep them safe in so-called Red Zones.
Concern is mounting about the high number of ambulances being attacked while picking up patients in some areas.
Emergency personnel can press a panic button in their ambulances in times of distress.
The vehicles will also be equipped with a tablet device called a mobile data terminal.
EMS paramedic, Uzair Helm, says the device will help them to reach patients faster.
He says: “We’ve got GPS on the devices so when we get the correct address or co-ordinates that will be sent to the mobile data terminal in front and we will respond to the patient according to the address or the co-ordinates that will be sent to us so we can get to the patient quicker.”
