Cape Town - The Western Cape Health Department said it was currently in a procurement process to equip emergency medical staff with 1 000 body cameras as a response to the ongoing attacks on EMS personnel.
Emergency Medical and Forensic Pathology Services spokesperson Deanna Bessick said the department has placed an advert for service providers to tender for body-cams on September 11.
Bessick said the procurement of suitable body-cams (with GPS and panic alert) was an action on the EMS safety plan within the technology focus section.
She said the application was a response to the ongoing attacks on EMS personnel. The intent was to equip all EMS personnel.
“At this stage, the procurement process has to run its course and the department will have to determine if it can identify a service provider who is able to meet the specifications.”
Safety and Security mayco member JP Smith said the devices have proven to be effective all over the world where they have been used.
He said if budgets and communications technology infrastructure permit, they would be a good idea.
Wendy Philander, DA’s provincial spokesperson on health, said 46 more attacks on EMS personnel have been recorded this year compared with 2019.
She said the nature of the work of paramedics was often traumatic, and recently subject to an increasing level of criminal attacks.
“Paramedics and the EMS service are invaluable to communities, especially where individuals are unable to seek urgent medical assistance on their own,” she said.
Rachel Windvogel, ANC provincial spokesperson on health, said they had noted the contract for the supply, installation, training and commissioning of body-worn cameras at EMS for a three-year period.
“We understand that these can be very effective for communication and safety as they enable users to take photos, record video and activate panic SOS. We believe they will go a long way to improve safety of EMS personnel,” Windvogel said.
She said they would, however, be asking questions in the legislature about the cost of the contract over the three-year period and what other measures the government is putting in place to ensure safety.
This comes after an alleged recent attack in Ocean View, where a male and female EMS paramedic were held at gunpoint while attending to a patient.
.Bessick said after loading the patient, the paramedics got into the ambulance, started the vehicle and were then approached by three male suspects.
“One of the suspects held the paramedic at gunpoint. As soon as the EMS paramedic saw the suspects and the gun, he reacted swiftly and pulled away from the scene. He then proceeded to a safe area and informed his colleague and the patient, who was in the vehicle, about what had transpired,” she said.
She said the patient was then taken to False Bay Hospital.
"…The EMS officials were severely traumatised following that senseless attack."
Cape Argus