DURBAN – When Zodwa Msibi became a paramedic, she never expected that she would one day stand at the open door of a helicopter and be lowered 80m.
“She was nervous at first. There was a bit of a screech as she went out of the door, but she was smiling when she was hoisted back up,” said Conrad Jones, Netcare 911’s rescue manager for Durban.
Msibi’s helicopter experience in a South African Air Force Agusta 109 was part of her rescue training as she progresses from being a basic life support paramedic – where she assists more experienced paramedics at accident scenes and emergencies – to an intermediate life support paramedic, where she will have more responsibility and be able to act independently.
As the only woman among eight men at Netcare 911’s ambulance depot in Ballito, Msibi, a 29-year-old mother of one, is used to being a trailblazer.
Now, halfway through her three-month course at Netcare’s training college in Durban North to boost her knowledge and skills, Msibi is enjoying being exposed to some of the more interesting aspects of rescuing people in trouble.
When people fall down cliffs, ravines and waterfalls – locations which cannot be quickly accessed by road – paramedics have to be flown in.
And as the helicopters cannot always land because of the terrain, the paramedic crew have to be lowered down with their equipment to attend to the casualty.
“There are risks, but we are taught safety and rescue procedures,” said Msibi, who has been a paramedic for six years.
When her course ends, she will not only be skilled at being lowered and hoisted from a helicopter, but she will also be able to be hoisted up with a patient on a stretcher, with the stretcher positioned outside the helicopter and stabilised by Msibi’s outstretched legs from her sitting position at the open door of the helicopter.
As part of her training, she has also had the chance to rescue a person in water.
Msibi, who lives in KwaDukuza, but who hails from Newcastle, once dreamed of becoming a teacher, but is glad she became a paramedic instead.
“I was scared at first. I know that paramedics come across some really gruesome scenes. But it has all gone well for me and I love my job.
“It’s a good feeling to be part of a crew and able to save someone’s life,” she said.
With no two days alike in the job, she is looking forward to one day trying out her helicopter skills in a real-life situation.