Tow-truck driver becomes paramedic
‘I felt hopeless holding that little girl in my arms as I waited for the paramedics to arrive’
Three minutes – that is how long it takes for someone to die if their airways are constricted. Three minutes is the driving distance between McDonald’s Krugersdorp and Key West Shopping Centre. That is, if you drive fast. With that in mind, think about how far Netcare Pinehaven Hospital – from where ambulances are dispatched – is from Tarlton Raceway’s section of the N14 – the notorious accident-prone road. Ambulances are usually not the first vehicles on an accident scene, which means those who are, don’t have the ability to save a patient’s life.
For this reason Karl Prinsloo, a tow-truck driver, took his career to the next level after he experienced traumatic helplessness first hand on an accident scene.
In 2014 Karl arrived at a scene where two patients needed urgent medical attention. While checking for vitals, he called an ambulance. Because the accident was in a remote area, the ambulance notified him that it would take about 10 to 15 minutes for them to reach the scene.
By that time Karl noticed that the woman was unconscious and the only thing he could do was to comfort the badly injured child. He only had basic life-support training and he couldn’t assist the child medically.
“I felt hopeless as I was holding that little girl in my arms, waiting for the paramedics to arrive,” Karl said. “Within minutes her body became heavy and I knew she was gone. That was the last straw,” he said. “I had to get a paramedics qualification.”
Karl entered the ER24 Intermediate Life Support Paramedic course and for four months he studied, with great endurance and effort to get his advanced life support certificate. He was then registered as an ILS and Independent Practitioner at the Health Professions Council of South Africa.
Karl graduated at the top of his class and went on to become a lifesaving truck driver.
Since the day he graduated, Karl has seen the most traumatising things, from children drowning in a vehicle submerged in muddy water, to burn victims screaming of pain.
However, he said one would think the most difficult part of the job is attending to the patients, but to him there’s a choice he has to make that both scares and scars him.
“When I arrive at a scene where there is more than one patient awaiting medical care, that is when things become frightful and difficult. We have to choose whom we attend to and we have to stick with that patient until someone with the same qualification as we have takes over.”
He said on arrival at a scene the paramedics start by classifying patients as savable, critical, injured or stable. The patients they choose will depend on their savability.
“This is why ethics and morals have to be two different aspects when you become a paramedic. When a suspect shoots a victim and the victim shoots back and both are injured, you have to treat them as equals on scene.
“You cannot choose not to attend to the suspect because he has committed a crime. You attend to him because he is a human being.”
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