The City invests in emergency vehicles
JOBURG - The City of Joburg’s Emergency Management Services (EMS) has spent R34 million on 25 new vehicles, including three state-of-the-art vehicles, equipping it to respond quickly to emergencies in the city.
According to EMS spokesperson Nana Radebe, the department had obtained 20 new ambulances – costing R10 million – and two fire engines and three specialised vehicles including an incident command vehicle, a search and rescue vehicle and a hazardous material (hazmat) – costing R24 million.
The incident command vehicle was fitted with a satellite dish and was fully equipped with built-in computers linked to the command centre of the city, while the search and rescue vehicle was equipped with sophisticated equipment to deal with building and trench collapses and other technical rescues.
The vehicles would be allocated to various fire stations according to a recently conducted internal risk analysis study.
The new vehicles would enable officials to respond to emergencies more efficiently and result in saving on repairs and maintenance costs as well as minimising the amount of time that vehicles spend out of commission, Radebe said.
She noted that the state of EMS vehicles was fair, but the procurement of the vehicles was part of an initiative to replace the vehicles that had reached their economic life span and were no longer cost effective to maintain.
MMC for Public Safety, Sello Lemao said, “The Emergency Management Services is a critical part of the Public Safety Department and has to be up to speed with having state-of-the-art ambulances coupled with committed personnel, who regularly undergo continuous training and development.
“We must ensure continuity and change, build capacity and importantly assess our risks to enable us to respond… quickly and effectively to save lives and property.”
Radebe said EMS personnel were well-trained, but specialised training would be received for the incident command vehicle due to its sophisticated equipment.
