Johannesburg - More than 100 firefighters employed by the Johannesburg Emergency Management Services (JEMS) have not put out fires since they were employed five months ago as they don’t have the required gear.
They were employed in February after undergoing extensive training. However, due to the lack of protective clothing, all they have been doing is driving ambulances and responding to medical calls.
Sources within JEMS said the only thing the employees were issued with was a black and white uniform instead of the usual blue overalls that paramedics wear when they do ambulance duty.
However, that black and white uniform is for special occasions and not suitable for responding to medical calls because blood gets splattered on it, they said.
In addition, they were not given boots. As a result, some old employees have donated their blue overalls to the new employees, which they now wear when they respond to medical calls.
One of the sources said being put on ambulance duty when you were trained as a firefighter was bad for the employees because they were not learning the core duties of their jobs. “They need exposure of what their work entails but are not getting it.”
JEMS spokeswoman Nana Radebe said their service provider had delivered only half the quantity ordered, as the appointed provider had problems importing the correct material for the combat uniform.
This, she said, was because the material that was brought for approval did not meet JEMS’s specifications.
However, Radebe did not say why the material they procured had not been distributed to the firefighters. She also did not say who the service provider was, saying only that they had appointed nine companies to provide them with the uniforms.
“We are still awaiting delivery of firefighting boots, winter beanies and firefighters’ belts. JEMS has been in contact with all the service providers appointed for them to accelerate delivery and adhere to time-lines, as per the signed service-level agreement,” Radebe said.
She added they were skilled and qualified firefighters and it would not be necessary to retrain them once they received the new uniforms later in August.
The work conditions of JEMS state that its staff have to work as both firefighters and paramedics.
Papiki Mohale of the SA Municipal Workers Union said the union was critical of the working conditions at JEMS.
He said two firefighters died in Joburg last year, and investigations showed that JEMS had failed to provide them with the necessary equipment.
Michael Letsosa, 33, and Dan Zwane, 54, died of smoke inhalation after being trapped in a building while trying to locate the source of a fire. They ran out of oxygen.
“I don’t think a firefighter would attend fully to a woman in labour like a paramedic would,” Mohale said.
The Star