Faulty ambulance hindered rescue after house collapsed

MBABANE – A faulty ambulance has been cited as the main reason why paramedics failed to attend to a man, who had been injured after his house collapsed.

Patrick Tembe (60), who is a pastor of a church around Ndlembeni in Luhlangotsini, near Pigg’s Peak, was injured over a week ago when a house he was trying to demolish prematurely collapsed.

One of the walls of the house collapsed and some bricks partly buried Patrick. He sustained broken bones. His wife Tanele Tembe called the paramedics on the day.

Mthembu said the ambulance was at the Central Transport Agency (CTA) garage, where it was being fixed until March 14, 2023. Patrick was injured on the day before this.

However, Tanele was told that an ambulance was not available. She had to look for alternative transport.

According to niece Patrick, there was no ambulance available to assist. Patrick said they had to use alternative transport in form of a taxi.

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Wandile Mthembu, the Communications Officer of the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) said a call was received by the paramedics on March 13, 2023. Mthembu said the caller was advised that the ambulance would not be dispatched.

Mthembu said on the day of the call, the ambulance had been taken for service and that it was not available for emergencies.

Mthembu was asked what alternative the EMS took in cases where there was no ambulance available. He said sometimes, the ministry would send another vehicle, but on that particular day, it was not the case.

He said since the ambulance was not available, the paramedics could not attend to the scene but the family was assisted by another ambulance. The ambulance, however, which was driven by Fire Rescue and Emergency personnel, could not reach the homestead due to poor roads.

This resulted in the family using a taxi as an alternative.

Mthembu disputed allegations that the paramedics did not intentionally want to assist. He said the public was of the view that the paramedic were normally reluctant to assisting. He said this was not the case but that sometimes, they got overwhelmed by the number of calls they received.