Durban - The rampant attacks on paramedics in the private and public sector have prompted the Department of Health to ask for government intervention, Dr Sifiso Mtshali, the Health HOD, said on Monday.
Some paramedics said these attacks could lead to a delay in service delivery should they refuse to attend a scene without a police escort.
Since 2014, 11 government health workers, including paramedics, were subjected to abuse by the public, said Mtshali.
He said four cases were reported in 2015 and five last year.
The Daily News reported in October last year that at least 17 ER24 paramedics were attacked and robbed in various parts of the province in the past two years.
Most of these attacks were at accident scenes.
The most recent incident in KwaZulu-Natal was in December when a private ambulance was attending an accident scene in Ladysmith and people pelted the ambulance with stones.
“It was scary and the intention, I think, was to rob us. I was with a colleague and even though we are both women, we maintained our cool and called for back-up,” said Phumi Mabizela, a paramedic for Sharaj Ambulance. In her five years as a paramedic, she has experienced many attacks.
“These are dangerous for both the paramedics and the patients because things could reach a point where paramedics decide to avoid certain areas,” said Ceron Lennox, a Durban-based advanced life support paramedic for the privately owned Rescue Care.
She said these attacks on paramedics were becoming more frequent across the country.
“It will definitely affect service delivery as soon as paramedics refuse to go into certain areas without being escorted by police or security firms.
“With the high volume of calls the police already have to deal with, this could result in delays in getting to the patient,” Lennox said.
“This could be life-saving time wasted. It is really not pleasant being scared to go and do what we love doing due to these ongoing attacks. However, our safety needs to be a priority.”
Mtshali said attacks on paramedics were a concern that could not to be dealt with by the department alone. “This is a societal issue. Part of our strategy is to involve all the societal structures, including the police.”
He too felt paramedic crews waiting for police escorts could lead to delays in response times.
“We have told the unions that we understand the situation and are working on finding a solution,” he said on Monday.
At one of the meetings the department held with the union, he said, they resolved to escalate the matter to provincial government through the Social Cluster.
This consisted of the police, Co-operative Governance and Traditional Affairs and the Education departments. Mtshali said the Health Department would also be involved in the process.
The National Education, Health and Allied Workers Union (Nehawu) was also pressurising the department for speedy intervention to safeguard its members, claiming that the department “was not doing enough” to protect paramedics.
Nehawu also felt the department was moving at a “snail’s pace”.
Phakama Ndunakazi, Nehawu’s provincial secretary, said the attacks had taken a toll on its members.
“The nature of service and the hours of work really call for urgent intervention to ensure security of our members. The department needs to get its house to order.”
Ndunakazi said the EMS (Emergency Medical Services) had no manager and those acting in the position did not have the capacity to make decisions.
“There are many private paramedic companies in Durban and the department spends a lot of money on them, instead of improving the operations at EMS. We are angry with the pace (of progress),” said Ndunakazi.
He also said a meeting, between the union and the department on this issue, was scheduled for today, but had been postponed.