Sometimes the ambulances are not available due to mechanical breakdowns or if nearby towns need an ambulance, the Middelburg depot sends one to help.
The government aims for a ratio of one ambulance per 10 000 people.

The ambulances are also used about seven times a day to transport patients from the Middelburg Provincial Hospital to the Witbank Hospital for surgical procedures.

The paramedics then have to sit and wait until the doctor admits the patient, which makes it nearly impossible for paramedics to make it to accident scenes or house calls within the Steve Tshwete Local Municipality.

Two weeks ago, victims involved in an accident on the old Belfast road had to wait 40 minutes before an ambulance could attend to them.

When the provincial ambulances don’t make it to scenes in time, patients are left with no choice but to contact private ambulances, which charge anything between R500 and R3 000.

Besides the shortage of ambulances, the department of health currently has 30 paramedics in Middelburg working in four shifts around the clock with seven to eight paramedics on duty at one time.

Since March 2018, the department of health prohibits medical personnel from working more than their allocated 30 hours of overtime, which causes understaffing.

When asked about the shortage of ambulances, the Mpumalanga Department of Health said, “It is not only about the vehicle (ambulance) alone. An operational ambulance must, besides the personnel, have equipment to assess and treat patients. There may be three ambulances allocated to Middelburg, but ambulance operations are boundaryless. During peak hours, when there is an increased number of calls in Middelburg, surrounding area resources are dispatched to assist. Ambulances from Belfast, Hendrina and Witbank EMS stations are dispatched to call-outs or interfacility patient transfers.”

The department also added that it is reviewing the situation and will add more resources if “funds permit”.