Durban - Attacks on paramedics are a “slap in the face” to those who have dedicated their lives to saving others.
The SA Private Ambulance and Emergency Services Association’s chief executive Oliver Wright said that the attacks were very “short-sighted” on the part of the perpetrators. He highlighted the the robbery on Saturday of two KwaZulu-Natal Emergency Medical Services (EMS) paramedics in Bottle brush informal settlement in Chatsworth who had been treating a pregnant woman
“Paramedics will be fearful and hesitant to go back into these areas which might affect their work performance. What if these same perpetrators are in need of assistance in the future?” he asked.
Wright, whose organisation comprises 40 service providers, said when one ambulance crew was targeted, another one was usually dispatched to take its place.
“The paramedics are usually shaken or could be injured. They also have to give statements to the police so that effectively takes one more bus off the road,” he said.
This, he said, taxed an already strained system, which was short of ambulances.
“Our members have reported instances of sexual assault and hijackings and also less violent crimes like robbery and theft.”
He said paramedics were often targeted near informal settlements, or areas with generally higher crime rates.
“Paramedics often ask the police to accompany them to volatile areas like where there’s been a stabbing or shooting. You would never think in a case like this, where a woman is in labour, that those helping her would be targeted,” he said.
He advised that emergency workers remained vigilant and co-operated with criminals as far as they could to avoid injury.
Spokesman for EMS, Robert Mckenzie, said the robbers made off with a cellphone on Saturday.
The paramedics were assessed by their colleagues and the patient was reassessed and taken to hospital.
“We condemn this type of criminal action. It obstructs paramedics, who treat patients irrespective of the nature or circumstance in often already dangerous and difficult conditions, from providing emergency medical care to the community,” McKenzie said.
Police spokesman Captain Thulani Zwane said that a 23-year-old suspect had been arrested and would appear before the Chatsworth Magistrate’s Court today.
In July, a Johannesburg judge upheld the sentence of two men who, in 2012, had been given eight life sentences each for the rape of two paramedics, 35 years for compelling another person to commit a sexual act, and 15 years for the unlawful possession of a firearm.
The paramedics had been attending to a toddler with burn wounds in Durban Deep, Roodepoort when they were attacked.
In January, a paramedic was stabbed eight times in an attempted hijacking in Vereeniging.
He had seen a man lying in the middle of Mario Milani Road and pulled over to help him, when he was ambushed.
ER24 spokesman Werner Vermaak said on Monday they had also had criminals stealing from the vehicles while paramedics were at the scene of an emergency or parked outside a hospital.
“The most recent one was about two weeks ago when we had a two-way radio (cellular device) stolen from the vehicle. The vehicle was parked at a hospital and the perpetrators broke the window to gain access.”
There was no comment from Netcare 911 at the time of publishing.
Daily News