EMRS bid farewell to Simon as he retires after 32 years

For 32 years Simon Mchunu (60) served the local Emergency Medical Rescue Service (EMRS) with pride and dignity. Upon his retirement in December, his colleagues paid tribute to his dedication, by hosting a special farewell.
Born and bred in KwaMashangu near Wasbank, Simon is a father of 14 children, a CPF member at Wasbank and a Junior Pastor at Nazareth Baptist Church (Shembe). Simon currently owns two homes in Dundee where he and his children stay.

In his younger age, he studied at Emana Primary School, which is located near Dannhauser, and he also went to Tholeni Primary and matriculated at Mpolweni High School back in 1981. Going down memory lane, Simon talks about his past, “I enjoyed my school years even though I could not further my studies back then I’m grateful to my parents for putting me through school. I remember after matriculating I headed to the “big city” Johannesburg to work as an assistant at a company that was called Industrial Electrical. I worked there for a year before heading back home here in Dundee to work for Al-Cup. In 1985, I got a job at Dundee Hospital as an ambulance driver.”

Little did Simon know that he would spend the rest of his years at the EMRS, from being a driver he got an opportunity to better his skills through basic ambulance assistance training where he trained for two years. Thereafter, qualifying as an Emergency Care Practitioner (ECP Intermediate) meant he was now a qualified paramedic. “I was very excited as I love helping people and me being employed meant that they were more paramedics in our sector as back then they were understaffed and there were not enough ambulances for our growing town,” explained Simon. After working as a paramedic for 18 years, Simon was promoted to being a supervisor, and this could not have come at a better time as he was now able to train up and coming young paramedics, who came to join the EMRS.
“Those wanting to train in the EMRS field need to be courageous as we deal with all kinds of patients from maternity to gunshot wounds, so you need to be able to handle those kinds of situations,” explained Simon. “One needs to be selfless and dedicated and be willing to help the community and be able to work under ‘bloody’ situations,” he continued.

Last month, Simon’s colleagues bid him farewell and they all said in one voice that they will miss him immensely. “I will definitely miss my fellow colleagues, my bosses and working with people in general. I will also miss our camping weekends,” cried Simon.
“My message to students who want to join the EMRS, is to make sure that you study hard at school especially in Maths, Science, English and Life Orientation as these are the subjects that will help you gain entry at universities. You must also be willing to serve the community and to be the bridge to closing the gap between emergency services and the community as we are still understaffed and still don’t have enough ambulances.”