The City of Ekurhuleni DEMS said it is ready to meet the festive season’s possible eventualities head on.
As part of the preparations for the season, the City’s emergency services equipped itself with more rescue technicians to meet the anticipated problems, normally brought by the December and January festivities.
According to DEMS spokesperson, William Ntladi, the City is boasting an additional 60 highly skilled specialised rescuers. They are divided into five smaller groups to comply with Covid-19 regulations.
“Come the end of the year when everyone will be in the festive mood, we will be better prepared for the possible eventualities,” said DEMS spokesperson William Ntladi.
“DEMS is continually providing innovative and practical solutions in skill development and empowerment for frontline workers to articulate necessary manoeuvrability in achieving ultimate lifesaving activities when needed. Consideration of specialised rescue skills is a need among the jurisdiction and beyond.
“The CoE is geographically one of the cities within Gauteng that is on dolomitic soil. Dolomite may present dangers associated with surface subsidence and sinkholes, meaning ponding water and leaking waterborne infrastructure may negatively influence the risk profile of such ground.
“Engineering requirements of underground pipeline in various areas around the City entails that specialised skill such as trench rescue is of paramount importance to the service. Trench rescues have a very high morbidity rate and the forces imposed on the victims through soil weight are unforgiving. One cubic metre of soil is equivalent to one ton in weight.
“The window of opportunity to enter the trench and relieve is very small. The likelihood of further engulfment or secondary collapse poses a significant risk to rescuers. Rescuers should establish engineering systems that will protect them during operations,” explained Ntladi.
“As the only municipality in the country accredited to render rescue technician courses, DEMS intends to equip almost all its firefighters with this specialised training course.”
Among the seventeen modules to complete before qualifying as a technician are rope rescue, confined-space rescue, structural-collapse rescue, vehicle rescue, swift water rescue, wilderness rescue, trench rescue and heavy-machinery rescue.
Important contacts
City of Ekurhuleni Call Centre: 011 458 0911, land line toll-free number: 10177, cellphone toll-free number: 112 and Gauteng Ambulance Services: 011 564 2210/2211.
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