The attacking of paramedics and ambulances has once again been thrown into the spotlight following an attack on a City of Johannesburg (CoJ) Emergency Management Services (EMS) ambulance which was attending to a maternity case in the Honeydew informal settlement in the early hours of Monday, 5 February, Roodepoort Northsider reports.
According to CoJ EMS spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi, who condemned such behaviour, the ambulance crew was attending to a maternity case in the back of the vehicle when two unknown men approached them.
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“One of them threw a brick at the back of the ambulance, and broke both rear windows of the ambulance,” he explained.
“The ambulance crew immediately drove out of the Honeydew informal settlement and continued to transport the maternity patient to Dr Yusuf Dadoo Hospital in Krugersdorp. Fortunately, both the crew and the patient survived the incident unharmed,” he said.
Mulaudzi confirmed that the incident was reported at Honeydew Police Station for further investigation. “We would like to urge any community member who might have witnessed the incident or be able to provide any information regarding it to contact Honeydew Police Station,” he pleaded.
Mulaudzi went on to say: “We also want to urge our residents to report any attack on paramedics to the nearest police station as it happens because this barbaric conduct by a few criminal elements within our community not only puts the lives of other community members at risk; it also creates panic and fear in the minds of the EMS personnel who are supposed to render this important essential service to our community, and disrupts service delivery to the residents of the CoJ.”
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