VIDEO: A day in the life of an EMS worker
Thought your job was busy? Spend a day in an EMS worker's shoes.
The Herald spent a day with an Emergency Medical Services (EMS) worker and found they are the busiest superheros, possibly giving Superman and Wonder Woman a run for their money.
The Herald had an emergency story to break which led to our EMS, Bradly Smith, founder and executive member of Quick Response Services (QRS) spending a few minutes in the life of a journalist.
It wasn’t long before we hit the road, Smith’s phone rang incessantly all the way to a garage in Krugersdorp where EMS, police and traffic police gather in between calls. This particular garage offers these officials free coffee which the Herald learned ultimately fuels EMS.
Then a call came in … It was a motor vehicle collision (MVC) on Voortrekker Road, Krugersdorp. The QRS response car was there within minutes. A diabetic driver had blacked out behind the wheel and hit two cars and a cement truck.
The driver had to be cut out of the vehicle and drop by drop it began to drizzle. Just as the man was being put into the back of  the ambulance (which they call an “ambo”) the rain started to pour. Smith got in the car soaking wet.
The next big call was a thought to be a collision on Doreen Road in Ruimsig, Roodepoort. The response car got to Doreen Road in seven minutes. While rushing to the scene Smith explained EMS driving; “response cars are allowed to go 40km above the speed limit. You have to drive so carefully and you always have to look out… for the car in the last lane of a robot.”
Just as he said this, a car slammed on its brakes at the intersection to accomodate the response car.
The last call the Herald went on was an elderly man falling at a shopping centre in Roodepoort. He was picked up and taken to hospital within minutes.
Between every call, Smith’s phone kept ringing. He had also not had anything to eat during the time spent with the Herald as everytime we went back to the garage, another call would come in.
The day in the life of a medic amounted to a week of a normal profession. These superheros go without sleep and food for long periods of time to help the injured.
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