Union allowing paramedics to arm selves brushes off criticism

SOUTH African paramedics started carrying guns last week to protect themselves.

On Friday, two Cape Town medics in an ambulance were held up at gunpoint while transporting a patient to Melomed Hospital in Mitchells Plain. They stopped to attend to a man lying on the road. But it was just a ruse for him to draw a gun and hold them up.

South African Emergency Personnel Union president Mpho Mpogeng, called on all the union’s 7 000 members to arm themselves during the festive season after a spate of more than 30 attacks on members over the past six months.

“Our position is very clear,” Mpogeng said. “We don’t have to be apologetic when dealing with crime because crime will remain crime.”

He said the union had tried to speak to national and provincial departments of health as well as the SAPS, but nothing had come of it.

“It’s happening, our paramedics are arming themselves and going out on duty. This is our only option, we are on our own,” he said, claiming government had not stepped in to protect emergency workers.”

However, the union’s call has been condemned in several quarters, including by the national director of EMS and Disaster Management at the Health Department, Raveen Naidoo.

Gun Free South Africa’s director Adele Kirsten said arming paramedics was not the right solution.

“We know arming people increases the potential for violence. A gun is a good offensive weapon, which is why you would arm your police force or military, but it’s not a good defensive weapon, so all the evidence shows that you increase the risk for your own injury or death.”

Naidoo said he was completely against the idea. “All health establishments in the country are gun-free zones and EMS is no exception.

“We have identified and taken steps to address this issue of attacks on EMS personnel, but we cannot allow them to carry firearms to work.”

The Department of Health said while it understood the concerns of workers, it could not condone workers arming themselves.

Mpogeng said his members had been threatened with dockets being opened against them for inciting violence if they armed themselves: “I don’t have a law degree, but I don’t think that people protecting themselves are inciting violence.

“The very same people who are criticising us have not addressed the issue. I’m sure most of these people know deep down that what we are doing is right, but won’t support us in public.”

Gareth Jamieson, owner of KwaZulu-Natal-based Rescue Care, said he had already started carrying a firearm on duty. And, while he did not encourage it, he allowed his staff to do the same.

Other paramedics were not at all in favour of arming themselves.

A female paramedic in the Western Cape, who has been robbed on duty and had her life threatened, described the call to arms “silly”. “Using dangerous weapons will only make us a bigger target,” she said.

Another paramedic who has worked in the industry for 15 years, said: “We all know that criminals are after valuables and guns, and if they see you with a gun, attacks will increase.”