When motor vehicle accidents happen on our roads, there are often misconceptions about the types of vehicles that are dispatched to the scene.
City of Joburg Emergency Management Services spokesperson, Robert Mulaudzi, described the different types of emergency response vehicles, as well as what happens on and behind the scenes.
On 13 January an accident occurred on Wilgerood Road towards Christian de Wet Road in Kloofendal. A woman burned to death when she was trapped in her burning vehicle. The community was furious after reports claimed the fire engine that was first on scene had no water and had taken an hour to arrive.
Mulaudzi explained, “The vehicle that was deployed initially [was] a rescue vehicle, and it does not carry water, so it cannot be expected to have water.”
Read more here: MUST READ: Woman dies in fiery crash
So then, which vehicle is dispatched first? “It depends on the emergency. In most medical incidents and motor vehicle accidents, it will be a rapid-response vehicle with a paramedic on board.”
He said these are followed by an ambulance and, in most cases, a vehicle extrication unit or rescue unit with rescue equipment needed for extrication purposes like the Jaws of Life.
Emergencies are ranked according to their priority, Mulaudzi said.”For example, a motor vehicle accident might be a priority over someone who needs an ambulance to go to Baragwanath Hospital for a toothache.”
What is most important is the information provided by the caller. When the community reports accidents they need to remain calm and give the call centre as much accurate information as possible. This helps to determine what type of unit needs to be sent.
The average time for emergency services to arrive, according to Mulaudzi, is 15 minutes. “However, I must emphasise that this is not [always the] case because some of the areas are not [formal settlements]. They don’t have street names and addresses, especially in the informal settlements.”
The fire services have a number of vehicles that respond to emergencies:
• The rescue unit normally responds to motor vehicle accidents and rescue incidents, unless a fire has been reported. It carries entrapment tools but does not carry water, even though it looks like a fire engine
• The grass unit combats veld fires. It’s normally a vehicle that can access difficult terrain that has vegetation. It will mostly be 4×4 vehicles.
• The Bronto or Ladder unit is mostly used for high-rise building fires and rescue incidents and does not carry water.
• Fire engines are mostly the first vehicle to arrive when there is a fire. This vehicle is capable of conducting firefighting operations and rescue operations. It has a portable water tank that carries between 1 500 and 3 500 litres of water, depending on the capacity. The water in this engine is only used during the incipient phase of firefighting operations. There must always be a fully functioning water hydrant to supplement water in the tank during firefighting operations.
“Most residents tend to think that water in a fire engine does not get depleted during a firefighting operation, which is not true. Because as long as there is no water source in the form of a hydrant to supplement the water in the fire engine, the water will be depleted,” he warned.
