Pretoria - North West Health MEC Dr Magome Masike has urged the public to use emergency services responsibly and refrain from attacking Emergency Medical Rescue Service (EMRS) personnel.
The call comes after emergency personnel were physically attacked by a mob in Huhudi, near Ganyesa, after responding to an emergency call around 1am.
According to a report, the mob claimed the personnel were responsible for the death of the deceased, who was stabbed. Emergency personnel escaped unharmed, thanks to the intervention of the police.
"Though we understand the frustration of losing a loved one, attacking people trained to provide essential service is not only merciless but it disadvantages those in need of emergency service, as emergency personnel might respond to calls with caution, especially at night.
"Our job is to preserve lives and for that to happen unhindered, we need the support and protection of the community," Masike said.
He also cautioned those making hoax emergency calls to refrain from such irresponsible conduct as they disrupted the allocation of emergency vehicles.
"Hoax emergency calls jeopardise the vital work of all EMRS and threaten the lives of the people they serve. Though the department is able to mobilise back-up teams to genuine incidents, some delays at times are unavoidable when seconds can make all the difference to the outcome of the rescue."
The provincial Health Department has added new 19 additional ambulances to its fleet to improve the response time to emergencies. This is in addition to 31 ambulances delivered in June this year.
The new ambulances are among the 53 service delivery vehicles added to the red fleet at a combined fee of R15 million. The new fleet includes six forensic pathology, six mobile clinics, four patient transport and 19 support/pool vehicles.
"The vehicles will be distributed equitably, guided by our need analysis and population register," the department said.
