Challenging life of a paramedic

As a paramedic you always have to be prepared for the worst as each day is different and you never know what to expect. And, during disasters, the demand for rescue services increase as they rush to help people in danger. 

HELPING save people has always been close to the heart of Durban paramedic and hero, Garrith Jamieson.
When he matriculated in 1999, he trained as a paramedic, starting with Basic Life Support.
In 2002, he did Intermediate Life Support and expanded his knowledge by taking up Advanced Life Support in 2005.

Before starting at Rescue Care Paramedics in 2012, Jamieson worked at Netcare 911 for 10 years.

“At that time there were not many ambulance services. We started with few ambulances and have grown from strength to strength over the years,” he said.

Rescue Care Paramedics have eight ambulances, three rapid response vehicles, multiple event management vehicles and have recently gone into partnership with a helicopter service.

Jamieson said a paramedic’s life is very interesting and adventurous, “I simply enjoy my work and you never know what could transpire as we are called to different scenes from flooding and drowning to serious accidents.

Jamieson has been in the industry for years but the scene which involves injuries and fatalities of children affects him most as he is a father of a five year-old girl.

“I am constantly on call, I sleep four to six hours but the management team and the staff work very hard. “I am divorced but I try my best to spend some time with my folks and my daughter who is practically my life.”

Recapping on the recent heavy rains

The heavy rains which wreaked havoc in most parts of the province had all services, including Rescue Care, working non-stop responding to many scenes.

Jamieson said he received the first call at about midnight.  “We were out and about from mudslide scenes to vehicles stuck in puddles. “I would have to say the worst one was the Malvern incident (an embankment collapsed onto a house in Ellen Road) killing seven people.”

The bodies of four children and three adults were recovered by rescuers buried in the mud and debris. Jamieson said that scene had turned into recovery then rescuing. He said the second scene they had to rush to was in Overport with reports of people being trapped.

“A mother in her 70s and her son were trapped after the roof and part of the wall of their house collapsed.
“When we got there, the rain was pouring, it was definitely a race against time. Unfortunately the son passed away, but the mother was rescued. As soon as we took her out, the whole house collapsed,” recalled Jamieson.

From there they had to rush to Chatsworth and then to Wiltshire in Mariannhill where three people were washed away and one girl drowned.

“Last week, all emergency personnel experienced very long days, everyone was tired physically and emotionally. One of our vehicles also got stuck in one of the puddles. It was an unpleasant experience as it was very difficult to drive around and get to the destinations.

“Those few days were very hard. It is so sad that people had to die so tragically,” said Jamieson.

Ambulance bases

Rescue Care offers a 24-hour service in areas up to Cato Ridge in the Highway area, in the South they cover areas to Scottburgh and up to Ballito from the North side and have 40 staff members.

“Our offices are based in Glenwood, but we are expanding our ambulance bases as we have two based in Pinetown and we will be opening another one in the Hillcrest area.People can contact Rescue Care on 0860 737 911 or on all social networks – @Rescue Care Paramedics

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