The Emergency Medical Norms and Standards states that there should be one ambulance for every 10 000 residents, which suggests that the city should have 474 fully functional ambulances.

It has, however, come to light that there are currently only 168 ambulances in the province that have to serve a population of about 4,7m.

Jane Sithole, the DA spokesperson for health in Mpumalanga, said it is concerning that it is that far below the recommended number of required ambulances.

“The fact that only 72 out of the meagre 168 reported to be in the province, operate on a daily basis and the remaining 96 are inoperable due to staffing shortages, breakdowns, accidents, and poor maintenance, is what really worries the DA.”

In the second quarter, there were 26 313 public requests for an ambulance, according to the provincial Department of Health’s report.

According to reports, 928 patients had already died as a result of car accidents, pedestrian accidents, gunshot wounds, assaults and medical-related assaults by the time the ambulance arrived.

“Nowhere is it reported or mentioned how many patients died while waiting for an ambulance, despite the fact that the department claims no patient has died inside. The department claims they have achieved their goal of an ambulance response in less than 30 minutes in urban areas and less than 60 minutes in rural areas,” Sithole said.

The DA disputes that these goals were achieved and requests clarification on the following:

• Was it for all 26 313 ambulance requests or just of those that were responded to?
• If so, how many were actually responded to?

“While we continue to blame patients and everything under the sun, people die while waiting for an ambulance in this province. The departments second quarterly report clearly shows that Mpumalanga needs an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) department that works and saves lives and not one that just looks good on paper.”

The DA urges the provincial Department of Health to meet the Emergency Medical Norms and Standards recommendation.

“Our people require an EMS department that does its job and saves lives and is not just one that is visually appealing on paper,” Sithole said.