Ambulance services in Ekurhuleni have been taken over by Gauteng province on July 1.
According to Kwara Kekana, spokesperson for the MEC for the Gauteng Department of Health, ambulances will now be stationed at provincial emergency medical service (EMS) stations across Ekurhuleni, including health facilities owned and operated by the Gauteng Department of Health.
These include hospitals and clinics, as well as some satellite stations at non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and at police stations.
When asked where ambulances will be stationed in Kempton Park, Kekana said: “We are currently positioning our footprint of EMS/ambulance stations in terms of caller locations and not the historical model of fire stations in affluent suburbs.
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“The closest EMS station is Thembisa Multipurpose EMS Station. However, we do have satellite bases at Bonaero Park EMPD and Olifantsfontein SAPS.
“Plans are underway to increase the footprint in all areas as accurate demand trends become available.”
Kekana said instead of having a fixed number of ambulances commissioned in one town, best practice would be to move away from resources per town.
“Instead, we’ll use demand and incident types to determine vehicle movement and their allocation. Other factors that inform resource allocation include population statistics.”
How will these changes affect EMS reaction time?
“The nearest appropriate resource will be matched with the emergency to any location in the province, including Kempton Park, to render medical services based on triage principles.
“We have only taken back ambulances, PRVs and logistic vehicles belonging to the Gauteng Department of Health which were allocated to the City of Ekurhuleni as part of the agency agreement. This includes 61 ambulances.”
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Discussions regarding funds allocated by the City to its EMS, is pending between the two spheres of government.
“Once resolved, the necessary communication will be availed. Any attempt to respond now will compromise the discussions of government.”
Kekana said the EMS numbers remain the same, and in the case of an emergency, help can be reached by contacting 112 or 10177.
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