VIDEO: KZN looting disrupts response to medical emergencies
"Stay indoors, and stay safe as you are not guaranteed to get the help you need should you have a medical emergency,"- Derrick Banks.
WITH violent protests and looting incidents taking place around KwaZulu-Natal, ambulance companies have decided to stay away from the roads.
Meditech Emergency Response, together with a majority of other emergency medical services, is faced with a situation where they are unable to attend to any medical emergencies.
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What’s more, Robert Mckenzie, KZN EMS spokesman has confirmed that one of it ambulances had been attacked in Howick on Sunday night (July 11).
The ambulance was called out to what turned out to be a hoax emergency and was ambushed and set alight.
“The crew managed to escape unharmed. However, the ambulance was completely destroyed,” he said.
Derrick Banks, from Meditech Emergency Response, said this is due to the hostile environment they are finding themselves in as a result of the protest action taking place in Durban and surrounding areas.
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“Last night our crews tried to get to a patient who suffered a medical emergency, however, after trying various routes, we instructed them to stand down for their own safety, as all roads leading to the patient’s location were blocked. During the course of the night, four other medical emergencies could not be attended to due to the location of the patients, and the road leading to them being affected by the protesters. Patients who required urgent transportation from one hospital to another for further urgent specialist care had to be returned to the hospital they were transported from due to the inability in finding roads that were not affected by protesters leading up to the receiving hospitals. Reports from other services indicate that some ambulances were stoned by protesters who were trying to transport patients to hospitals,” said Banks.
Meditech Emergency Response said they are appealing to the community to stay off the roads today.
“Stay indoors, and stay safe as you are not guaranteed to get the help you need should you have a medical emergency,” said Banks.
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“Our control room is keeping a close eye on all the roads and routes that are affected, and each emergency call we receive is assessed in order to see whether we will be able to reach the patient safely. This is a situation out of our control and we can only hope that it will be brought under control soon in order to restore peace and allow emergency services to fulfill their duties to full capacity,” he said.
President for Kwazulu-Natal Private Ambulances Association (KZNPAA), Andile Nduli added, “We have decided to park our ambulances to protect our industry from the protest that is taking place in various areas in KZN.”
