Gauteng Department of Health has begun the process of acquiring more ambulances to improve the state of Emergency Management Services (EMS) in the province.
According to the department’s spokesperson Steve Mabona, the department will add 160 ambulances in this financial year of 2015/16 to its fleet. Of the 160 ambulances, 40 of them will be obstetric ambulances and will be used to transport pregnant patients to health facilities.
“These ambulances will supplement around 787 ambulances that are currently in use in the province, (497 provincial, 170 metro and 120 private ambulance service providers),” explained Mabona.
The procurement of new ambulances forms part of an EMS multi-recapitalisation programme, which started in the 2012/13 financial year. He explained that the department was decommissioning the ambulances that were considered uneconomical to repair.
The department will also install software in the communication systems of the provincial EMS command centre and all the municipal EMS command centres.
“The system will assist Gauteng EMS officials to monitor the dispatch of ambulances at both ends – this will assist the rationalisation of resources concept, which will necessitate [the] well-informed dispatch of ambulances,” said Mabona.
He added that private sectors had agreed to allocate officials who will share the provincial command centre with the department. “We call upon members of the public to assist us, and report abuse of our ambulances, to avoid prank calls (not to call an ambulance for transportation needs), and prevent unnecessary accidents,” he concluded.
Meanwhile Gauteng DA Shadow MEC for Health Jack Bloom claimed the provincial department purchases new ambulances every year but fails to equip them.
“We need to make sure that those ambulances are equipped and serviced properly, we had an incident when the ambulance was short of oxygen,” said Bloom.
Details: Gauteng Health Department 011 355 3469; Gauteng DA Shadow MEC for Health Jack Bloom 082 333 4222.
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