Ambulance service has a brand-new home
GREENSIDE– Emergency Care highlights the importance of knowing what to do during a medical emergency.
A newly established ambulance service operates in the heart of the community and is dedicated to serving others. Pirates Sports Club is the new home for the ambulance.
Emergency Care operations managers, Donovan Roestorff and Heather Roestorff said they were previously a first aid training academy, but realised that when residents would call an ambulance it would take anything from 30 minutes to an hour for them to receive assistance. They have started branching out by doing fire training, evacuation drills and health and safety files.
The ambulance also provides sports clubs with medical assistance, mostly during rugby games. Roestorff explained that in this particular sport there are a number of head and spinal injuries taking place. It’s due to coaching techniques that aren’t in place within the clubs. All clubs must have medical assistance on hand on practice and game days.
“If anyone is injured there’ll be immediate professional medical attention. When dealing with a head or spinal injury patient, we have come across cases where someone will try and help them, which can aggravate the injury and put the patient in a wheelchair. It’s very important not to move them until they are assisted by medical professionals,” said Roestorff.
He added they also assist with Northcliff High School’s sports department. They assist with cases such as asthmatic attacks, sports injuries and trauma incidents. The importance of knowing how to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is something that can save a person’s life.
Heather added the ambulance has also worked with a non–profit organisation, where they helped establish a safety file for them and plan to work with more in the future.
“Since we are fairly new in the area, we plan to reach out to more NPOs in our areas of operation and see where we can assist them,” said Heather.
Emergency Care encourages residents to be aware of who to contact during emergencies and to be familiar with their areas.
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