A Toekomsrus teenager has given birth to a still born baby after an ambulance failed to arrive.
The girl, Valdine Steyn (16) went into labour at approximately 11:30pm on 3 August and her sister Laurette Pienaar and cousin called an ambulance as they do not have a car.
“My sister started having contractions and we immediately called the emergency services,” says Pienaar.
“We had trouble getting hold of them and the phone was dropped in my ear more than once.
“When I eventually managed to speak to someone, I had to spell our street name to them and give them directions.
“When after more than an hour no-one arrived, I called again and repeated this throughout the night.”
She explains that when an ambulance had not sowhed up by after 3am, the family finally arranged for someone to take her sister to the nearest medical facility.
Upon arrival at the Mohlakeng Clinic, Valdine was admitted, and told shorly afterwards that her baby was stillborn.
“This is ridiculous,” says Pienaar.
“We have had to bury a child. Our family is in tatters and all because the West Rand District cannot get an ambulance out in time.”
According to West Rand District Municipality Dennis Mangope, it is incorrect for the family to state that no ambulance was dispatched.
“Despite the delay, an ambulance was dispatched and the woman was taken to a medical facility prior to losing the baby.
“We want to put it on record that the patient was helped and transported to a medical facility where our paramedics left her in a good condition.
“We cannot explain what happened after that as we did not receive a report, ” says Mangope
In addition to this, he adds that the delay could have been caused by the fact that they did not call the West Rand Emergency Services directly.
“During investigations, we picked up that they initially called 112 and not 107.
“In order to avoid such fatal incidents, we kindly advise people in need of emergency medical services to contact our official emergency number which is 107.
“This is so we can dispatch emergency resources on time and take record of the call.
“This will also allow us to take proper accountability should the need arise.
“In this particular case, we apologise for the delay and send our condolences to the affected family,” says Mangope.
