Siyazifukula Learner Transport Association (SLTA) held a meeting on Monday, June 21 to hand over City of Johannesburg EMS First Aid certificates to their members who completed the course. They did the course in an effort to take even bigger responsibility for the lives of their learners.
SLTA transports learners with various illnesses such as epilepsy and diabetes, and they believe the skill of first aid is crucial in their line of work.
“Learning how to handle school children in an event of them falling ill while in transit is of outmost importance to us.
“We also want to assist as much as we can if accidents were to occur; we need to know what to do and how to take care of those injuries.
“We would not want to worsen their injuries, as too many lives have been lost as a result of people taking unnecessary risks,” said SLTA deputy chairperson, Bheki Ziqubu.
SLTA revealed to the Record that they wish to encourage all school transporters to abide by the rules of the road, and keep first aid kits at hand inside their minibuses.
According to SLTA Chairperson, Sonto Simelane, unsafe practices are most commonly found in Kombis without first aid equipment.
“We take this matter very seriously as we are concerned about the well-being and safety of our communities in which we operate.
“We have also urged the City of Johannesburg to work in partnership with school transporters to ensure that all vehicles are equipped with first aid kits,” said Simelane.
