We will never abandon people in emergencies – paramedics

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PIGG’S PEAK – Being a paramedic can be challenging and traumatising but, according to EMS Eswatini, they are committed to serving the people.

EMS is the Emergency Medical Service.

It is a unit under the Ministry of Health, responsible for transporting people during traumatic situations or sickness.

They use ambulances that contain life-support facilities to ensure that the person being transported arrives at the hospital alive for treatment.

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In other countries, units similar to EMS are called by different names such as first responders. They are also called paramedics.

A paramedic is a health care professional, who responds to emergency calls for medical help outside of a hospital.

Paramedics mainly work as part of the EMS, most often in ambulances.

The duty of a paramedic varies among countries, but generally includes autonomous decision-making around the emergency care of patients.

Wandile Mthembu, the Communications Officer of Eswatini EMS said he noted the concerns from certain members of the public.

Referring to a concern that was reported by the Times of Eswatini that paramedics were reluctant to respond to calls,

Mthembu said this was not true, since they were committed to serving the public.

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Mthembu first noted the challenges the department occasionally faced, such as a lack of sufficient vehicles or shortage of fuel, which made it impossible to respond to emergencies.

He also said because ambulances were constantly in motion, they frequently developed faults.

Mthembu said for this reason, sometimes an ambulance could be parked at the Central Transport Agency (CTA) garage to be fixed and could be gone for several days. He said during such periods, it may become impossible to reach patients.

However, he said despite the challenges they faced, they made sure that they were available to the public for emergencies. Mthembu said the unit had two types of ambulances.

He said there were those ambulances that were designed for leveled terrain such as in urban areas.

He then said in rural areas, they usually used the Toyota Land Cruiser version of the ambulance, so that they could access the rough terrain.

(Courtesy pics) During the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, paramedics risked contracting the disease while transporting the sick, sometimes with limited gear.