Crisis in EC as ambulances come under fire
In the past six months, 15 criminal attacks have left another three ambulances in an already depleted provincial fleet badly damaged.
Fifteen medics have been reassigned to office duties due to post traumatic stress disorder and three have been placed on medical leave.
As a last resort against the spate of attacks, health MEC Helen Sauls-August told the Eastern Cape legislature they were now engaging private security firms to protect medics in hotspot areas and were investigating the cost of fitting ambulances with panic buttons and dashboard cameras.
Sauls-August said in response to a question in the legislature that there had been 30 attacks on ambulances in the province between 2017 and this year.
There were 11 in the Amathole and BCM districts and four in Nelson Mandela Bay.
During these attacks, ambulances were petrol-bombed, dented and windows broken.
Sauls-August said she had implemented a number of measures to protect ambulance personnel including getting armed police escorts for vehicles and engaging community leaders. She said there had been no arrests for any of the attacks.
DA spokesperson on safety and security, Bobby Stevenson, said ambulance personnel were now doubly traumatised by having to deal with patients in life-threatening situations, and the fear of being attacked.
“The province needs to drastically improve its strategy to protect ambulance personnel.
“It is unbelievable that no arrests have been made . . . Enough lives are being lost and too many are traumatised by the poor ambulance service,” he said.
Despite national department of health requirements dictating that NMB is supposed to have 115 operational ambulances, it has only 43, of which 35 are operational.
The control centre in NMB is also being manned by medical personnel as the department did not provide for call centre staff on their organogram.
lives are being lost and too many are traumatised by the poor service