New emergency vehicles worth R56m at Orange Farm launch
A LOUD bang echoed as a large group of people walking around fell to the ground with a thump.
Suddenly two more loud “explosions” went off and the crowd started to scream.
An advanced emergency vehicle came zooming in with its sirens wailing to deal with the situation.
Two paramedics jumped out of their car and began to assess and triage the patients as several more ambulances arrived to transport the 25 “injured patients”.
Yesterday, the Gauteng Department of Health launched 103 new advanced emergency services vehicles worth R56 million at the Stretford Clinic in Orange Farm and provided onlookers with a demonstration of their capabilities.
MEC Qedani Mahlangu said the new Emergency Management Services (EMS) vehicles were unveiled in a bid to improve response times to emergencies.
“The response time is a concern and we hope this will reduce it. The new ambulances have GPS and Uberlike technology where the paramedics have the location and phone number so they can contact the caller directly,” she explained.
A fake bomb blast was staged to show attendees the abilities of the new emergency vehicles. It also demonstrated the way in which paramedics are able to deal with a mass casualty event.
Thirty ambulances, a specialised mobile emergency communication unit with incident command capabilities and a mass casualty bus which can transport eight patients on stretchers and 20 sitting patients were among some of the new vehicles unveiled.
Several inter-facility intensive-care vehicles, ambulances specially geared for children, mothers and neonates, and a special ambulance for disabled or wheelchair-bound patients were also revealed.
Some of the new EMS vehicles have a mechanical lift which lifts the gurney or wheelchair into the ambulance instead of paramedics.
With the high number of maternal deaths, the department also launched a pilot project for obstetric ultrasound for advanced midwives.
“This will reduce maternal deaths in the province. When a woman is pregnant, she and her infant shouldn’t be dying,” Mahlangu added.
A new 24-hour emergency unit at Stretford Clinic was also unveiled during yesterday’s launch.
The clinic has treated 120 000 people since it opened in the densely populated area.