Ambulance crews in Nelson Mandela Bay are “under siege” by criminals – and people are dying because the medics have to wait for police escorts before entering what have become no-go areas.
Ambulance personnel were instructed recently not to enter New Brighton without being accompanied by armed police.
“We are talking about a volatile situation‚” Emergency Medical Service (EMS) head Brenhan Metune said‚ pointing out that there was‚ on average‚ one attack a month against ambulance crews.
“EMS practitioners are trained that their safety always comes first‚ as a dead rescuer can’t rescue anybody‚” he said.
One health department official said the attacks on emergency service workers were as devastating as police killings.
EMS officer Monwabisi Booysen‚ one of the many ambulance crew members who face violent crime while out on the job‚ said: “People are dying because we cannot fetch them.
“We know helping us is not always the police’s priority.
“I arrive on an urgent call at the police station sometimes and am told to wait for 40 minutes because the officers are having supper.
“For us‚ those 40 minutes are life or death. We know people have died because we could not fetch them.”
Booysen said it was not that they did not want to go into New Brighton. “I live in New Brighton and I was fighting for us to keep on going there‚ but not even the furniture trucks or the municipal electricity vans go into New Brighton anymore without an armed escort‚” he said.
“We need everybody – the churches‚ the schools‚ the councillors – to stand up for us.”
Metune said 20 serious and violent attacks on ambulances had taken place over the past 22 months – with no arrests made in any of the incidents. — Tiso Black Star Group Digital Reporters/The Herald
New Brighton a no-go area for paramedics
Ambulance personnel were instructed recently not to enter New Brighton without being accompanied by armed police.
“We are talking about a volatile situation‚” Emergency Medical Service (EMS) head Brenhan Metune said‚ pointing out that there was‚ on average‚ one attack a month against ambulance crews.
“EMS practitioners are trained that their safety always comes first‚ as a dead rescuer can’t rescue anybody‚” he said.
One health department official said the attacks on emergency service workers were as devastating as police killings.
EMS officer Monwabisi Booysen‚ one of the many ambulance crew members who face violent crime while out on the job‚ said: “People are dying because we cannot fetch them.
“We know helping us is not always the police’s priority.
“I arrive on an urgent call at the police station sometimes and am told to wait for 40 minutes because the officers are having supper.
“For us‚ those 40 minutes are life or death. We know people have died because we could not fetch them.”
Booysen said it was not that they did not want to go into New Brighton. “I live in New Brighton and I was fighting for us to keep on going there‚ but not even the furniture trucks or the municipal electricity vans go into New Brighton anymore without an armed escort‚” he said.
“We need everybody – the churches‚ the schools‚ the councillors – to stand up for us.”
Metune said 20 serious and violent attacks on ambulances had taken place over the past 22 months – with no arrests made in any of the incidents. — Tiso Black Star Group Digital Reporters/The Herald
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