Man’s frantic call for help to EMS falls on deaf ears

Alleges lax ambulance staff lied to him

IF you’re in Stutterheim and order a pizza from East London and call for an ambulance at the same time, chances are the cheesy delight will arrive before the ambulance. This is according to funeral director Colin Scholes from C J Scholes and Son in Stutterheim who claims he often arrives before the ambulance has arrived at a scene.

But Stutterheim resident Zweli Bomela had a more frustrating experience last week when he was told there were no ambulances available when he contacted the call centre in East London after his mother fell ill.

However, when he went to the ambulance satellite station, he found four ambulances stationed inside, with paramedics saying they were readily available but could not “move” without authorisation.

Bomela, who lives in Xolorha Location, said last Friday at 6am he made a frantic call to the East London emergency medical services on (043) 711-0600.

This after he was informed that his mother, who lives in Toise village, had fallen ill and could not walk, had lost her eyesight and had difficulty breathing.

Bomela said while making the call he could see the ambulances. “I could see four ambulances and when I went there the explanation I got from a paramedic was that they needed authorisation from East London before they can go out to a scene.”

Bomela said he called three times and on his first call, an agent told him to take his mother to the nearest clinic.

“I explained to her that my mother could die because she had difficulty breathing and the nearest clinic only opens at 8am,” he said.

Bomela said he called 40 minutes later when he was standing in front of the station where he could see the ambulance and was told that an ambulance was on the way.

“They were lying because no ambulance, no paramedic was making a move to go out,” he said.

An hour later he made another call and was told there were no ambulances available and “were all busy on call”.

“They lied to me again because I was standing in front of the ambulances,” he said.

Bomela said an ambulance was finally sent after paramedics at the station made calls and after he had called the department of health call centre to complain.

His mother was taken to Stutterheim Hospital, and had since been discharged.

Bomela said he received a call from an agent the next day asking if the ambulance had arrived or not.

“The East London ambulance control centre has very poor service for poor areas like ours,” he said.

Provincial health spokesman Sizwe Kupelo said: “All EMS staff are responsible to provide a public service and the EMS staff should have contacted the call centre and informed them about the call.”

Kupelo said a member of the public could get help from an ambulance without having to call, especially in the absence of good telecommunications.

By the time of writing yesterday, Kupelo said he was still trying to establish the facts around Bomela’s allegations. —