This claim was made after Ekurhuleni received 12 additional ambulances and a disaster bus, to service the metro, along with 176 newly appointed fire fighters and emergency care practitioners.
According to Gadebe, the response vehicles on call 24/7, have increased from 30 to 65 since August, last year, excluding the additional 12 ambulances and disaster response bus that were received on Friday, February 21.
“The number of ambulances on the road 24/7 will now be increased to an average of 74, which means these response times will be reduced even further,” said Ekurhuleni mayor Mondli Gungubele.
“We are also closing the gap in terms of manning levels at our fire stations, and the Fire and Rescue Crew on any shift is going to increase to four members while the standard is five.”
The mayor said the number of emergency calls responded to within five minutes of dispatching an ambulance increased from 0 per cent to 9,43 per cent in the last six months.
Calls responded to within 15 minutes increased from 78 per cent to 80 per cent while the remainder of all calls are attended to within less than an hour.
The City Times reported on the ambulance shortage the metro was experiencing early last year.
A total of 48 ambulances, nine paramedic response vehicles and nine firefighting vehicles were unveiled on August 7, last year.
