ER24 preps for festive season
Review spoke to ER24 Spokesperson Russel Meiring on how the ER personnel prepare for the festive season and how they process the gruesome scenes they often come across.
POLOKWANE – According to Meiring, the staff do not require extra training for this period as the incidents they see during the festive season are not that different form the ones that occur throughout the rest of the year. “The only difference is we generally see a higher volume of the calls,” he explains.
He adds that the emergency vehicles are equipped with state-of-the art equipment at all times. “During the busy festive season, we carry extra stock and equipment as our vehicles may not be able to return to their respective branches for some time,” he continues.
He says it is important for ER personnel to be well rested because they are on standby for longer during this time. “We generally run a 12 hour shift with most of our vehicles. We do have some vehicles that run only during the day and some that run only during the night depending on the area.”
He notes that ER24 personnel are kept very busy with a large number of trauma-related incidents at this time of year. These can range from injuries sustained from fireworks during New Year’s celebrations to vehicle accident related injuries.
Meiring agrees that tending to patients with extreme injuries can leave emotional scars and says ER24 has a number of highly trained counsellors who deal with such issues. The public are also allowed to make use of these counsellors’ services.
“Due to the nature of our work, our staff is constantly evaluated and offered trauma counselling,” he adds.
ER24 is calling on everyone to be prepared and ensure they drive safe during the festive season.
riana@nmgroup.co.za
