our international ems rescuers save the day · international ems rescuers save the day (continued)...

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DEPARTMENTof HEALTH Provincial Government of the Western Cape

sirenMAY/ JUNE 2011

OUR INTERNATIONAL EMS RESCUERS SAVE THE DAY

EMS was privileged to send a rescue team of eleven medical responders to represent and as-sist on an international rescue mission in May this year, taking their rescue experience to a whole new level. Neville “Kussie” van Rensburg; Keith Kleinhans; Darren Pick; Ashraf Soeker; Zane John-son; Jason Higgins; Fabian Higgins; Rowan Ad-ams; Michael Cloete; Dr Joshna Rajbaran and Dr Khalid Mbaya were honored to respond to the call. EMS was activated through the South Afri-can Maritime Safety Authority on Sunday May, 01 after a Taiwenese Fishing Vessel, sunk near Tristan Da Cunha Island whilst sailing towards Cape Town. Sixteen survivors of the incident were rescued off the Lai Ching shipping vessel and eleven crewmen rescued from Tristan da Cunha Island.

Alongside the SA Navy and other emergency services our guys at-tended to the call with vengeance. Rescue officer Fabian Higgins was the first to call staff members to ask them whether they would respond. “I had to coordinate the ground work once briefed by Dr Shaheem De Vries” says Higgins.

“They told us the Monday morning.

I was very excited about it because it is a once in a lifetime opportunity. It was a great privilege to be part of the experience and rescue team”, said Michael Cloete, Rescue Paramedic for the city.

Zane Johnson, Rescue Para-medic shared his experience after receiving the news, “I didn’t know what to expect as I’ve nev-er been on an international rescue before. It was haywire at first and I felt honoured to be cho-sen to respond. Of all the staff

members that could have gone, I was one of the eleven that was chosen and am very grateful for that”.

Neville “Kussie” Van Rensburg maintains that no amount of experience prepares you for an international disaster rescue, all you can do is respond as best as you are able to.

Not being accustomed to the movement of a vessel on sea, a few rescuers found it difficult to adjust to life on the SAS Isandlwana naval vessel. Cloete, shared his experience, “I felt ex-tremely helpless and silly because my core func-tion is to assist and help patients and when you’re seasick, you cannot help anyone. It made me realise that rescuers don’t get rescued. (continued on page two)

Siren June 2011.indd 1 7/4/2011 1:34:50 PM

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(continued from page one)I’ve been on short rescue trips before but this one was the first time I felt okay one day and was sick the next morning. I couldn’t eat for two days”.

“The trip was enjoyable but a bit difficult not being in contact with family. On the fourth day

when I spoke to my wife for a minute, it made everything much better. I learnt to appreciate my family and life more. The patients that we res-cued came from one of the small villages in the Philippines and we could see the appreciation on their faces when we fed them. We take so much for granted and the rescue made me rea-lise this”, said Darron Pick, Rescue Technician.

Sadly the crew had to say goodbye to Ashraf Soeker’s father who passed away suddenly whilst on the rescue mission. “Kussie and Fabian came to tell us the unfortunate news. We discussed how we would go and inform Ashraf. There was nothing we could do about that. We were in the middle of a rescue. We empathised and knew

that his father had to be buried accord-ing to the Muslim law (before sunset) which meant that he would not be present for the funeral or be able to pay his last respects. As a col-league and a friend, I felt for him and proceeded to go

and support him even if it was only to take his hand. Afterwards we could sense that he felt a bit better. There was nothing we could do but be there for him. It gave us all peace of mind once the crew came togeth-er to show their support. I am sure he could sense it from every one” expressed Johnson.

“I was the first person to receive the news from

Ashraf’s wife. It was like going to tell a brother that our father had passed on. The entire crew choked up and the mood went from jovial to sombre. It was very hard to go and do that”, expressed Higgins.

EMS management, rescue staff, Sister Crossley and the rescuers family welcomed them back at the Simons Town naval base on May 11.

“It was a wonderful experience to reach South Afri-can shores again and have our family waiting for us” said Rowan Adams, Rescue Technician for the City. Keith Kleinhans, the Medical Commander of the rescue expressed the milestone EMS achieved. “The team had an opportunity to test the systems and processes currently in EMS. I think the CASAVAC mission was a huge suc-cess. It was a true reflection that we are pre-pared for every eventuality we are exposed to”.

Debriefing of the trip took place at Oudekraal a week later. Both EMS management and the rescue team would like to thank Mr Johnson from Metro control and Alastair Christians from

Rescue for k e e p i n g their fami-lies updat-ed and a r r a n g -ing their presence at the welcome.

INTERNATIONAL EMS RESCUERS SAVE THE DAY (continued)


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GREETINGS FROM THE EMS DIRECTOR

Overberg is on the brink of launching a district choir. The brain child of Leche Basson, Com-munications Dispatcher in the Overberg com-munications centre, dreamt of forming a choir for the last two years. With the help of Madelyn Louw, Leche loaded the idea on Facebook. The response was much better than expected and the Overberg Choir was born.

Although the choir has not been officially launched, after the passing of Roscoe Christians, they paid their respects in song at his memorial and funeral service.

Those who have been fortunate to hear them sing can only be amazed at the beautiful voices we have in our service and we look forward

in anticipation to their future concerts.

Photograph: Annie Fortuin, Jenny Mongo, Mad-elyn Louw, Cindy Folmink, John Dixon, Willie Brou-wer, Audrey April, Leon Leukes, Leche BassonMissing members from photograph: Lana Jou-bert, Fernando Erasmus and Mario Martinus (photographer)

NEW BREED OF SONGBIRD IN OVERBERG

Dear Diary, what a day it’s been!

EMS has achieved substan-tially on response times in the last year to the credit of all our personnel who rose to the challenge and embraced operational changes to affect better

response. Time is quality in the minds of our clients and demanding that ambulances arrive in short time is intuitive!

The complementary issue is however the stan-dard of emergency quality care (quality) that we provide both individually and collectively to our patients. The focus forward should therefore be on how we provide care. We need to ask ourselves, is it ethical? Moral? Acceptable to the client? And of high technical quality?

Remember the overriding value in Department of Health is C.A.R.E. made up of Competence, Accountability, Responsiveness and eInteg-rity (a small Africanism to fit the acronym). This acronym in word could be the inspiration to how we deliver quality EMS care. It will require some creative thought and construction but I think we are leading the department in the objective measurement of how people perform.

I think in modern medical ethics we have lost a fundamental empathy, concern and respect for

patients in a culture where as long as the techni-cal procedure is right then care is ethical. I think it’s more than that and quality care must consist of technical quality and the softer skills applied to patient care like communicating accurately, professionally, tactfully, like sincerity of concern, like respect for dignity and confidentiality… these are all elements of desired ethical care.

So the message for 2011/12 is CARE and view every patient contact in the context of qual-ity of care, ask yourself every time you respond and treat a patient whether you are providing the best care possible and find ways of improv-ing that care. Reflect on the seven levels of consciousness in your own personal evolution, within your station, your team, your district and work towards improving patients’ experience.

The other element of care is supporting each other in an environment which is often hostile. We need to support and care for each other as colleagues within the same context both verti-cally through management and horizontally though services! Think about it!

It’s encouraging to see that we are getting more and more compliments every day and our care is being recognized by our clients. Keep it up! We’re the best in the West.

DR ROBERTSON EMS DIRECTOR


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LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

A synergised approach in promoting EMS and producing better results for 2011 has started ear-ly for the Southern District Ambulance Service. “Sharpen the Saw” and unleashing the poten-tial is our motto for this year. January has been a beginning for many community care givers and youth from all ethnic groups who voluntarily attended a level one first - aid course at Lentegeur Hospital.

The objective is to empower civil society and award them the opportunity to become first responders and initiate basic life support before paramedics arrive. The “Golden Hour” is so important to save a life and not waste time wait-ing for professional help to arrive.

Southern District is proud to announce our first nineteen level one First Aiders that successfully completed their course on January 14, 2011, that was held over two days with an average score of 80% and a 100% pass rate. The enthusiasm

and willingness has motivated our staff to con-tinue training more groups this year. The training included, when and how to call an ambulance, what is an emergency, and why an ambulance should not be abused. We aim to reduce hoax calls and improve service delivery with the best possible response times.

Off duty paramedics voluntarily assisted with lec-tures and subjected all candidates to a written exam and a practical evaluation. I am pleased for the effort and willingness from our team and the support from the quality assurance department.

Our target is to educate 60 candidates over the year. The latest intake was in June. Six trainers from the station are actively involved and take responsibility for the training of candidates.

Mr NaidooDistrict Manager Southern, Cape Town

SYNERGY

“Who packs your parachute?”

The May/ June edition of the Siren is quite personal for me. It signifies the first issue for the financial year and the last quarter of a year’s cycle of working in service. As I look back on twelve months, I’m surprised that for such a large directorate, EMS is by far the most familiar and it is wonderful knowing that I am part of this family too.

At the Breede River Breakfast reunion (page 9) Mr Ahmed, Regional Manager of the Rural District spoke about the purpose of thanking co-workers, friends and loved ones for pack-ing your parachute. The story speaks of a Jet Pilot who was deployed to Vietnam and on his seventy-fifth mission after his aircraft is attacked, ejects from the aircraft and parachutes himself into enemy hands.

Years later after the incident, a stranger approaches the retired Pilot, reminding him that he was the responsible person for packing the Pilot’s parachute. If the parachute was not packed correctly or missed one essential item, the Pilot would not have survived. Mr Ahmed reminded the audience that in our line of work we need to be aware and acknowledge the people who pack our parachute every time we respond to a potentially dangerous scene. We need to

be thankful to our partners and colleagues who have to sit while we chew, sometimes tear their ears off after a hard day at work.

While you read May/June edition of the Siren, I hope you take the time to acknowledge the people in your private and work environment that bring you comfort after a hard day’s work. Congratulations to the greens who responded to the Tristan Da Cunha Island rescue and for those who have begun to take responsibility in their districts. I hope you are inspired.

Keri DavidsCommunications Officer


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“Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.” Barak Obama

BEING THE CHANGE

Staff constantly complain about their working environment and after years of waiting for pro-cesses to change, Western Division’s A & B Shift took the initiative to clean up their working en-vironment. The first part of the clean-up initia-tive was to paint the Parade room in Pinelands which took place on May 27, 2011 on the A & B’s off day.

Ysterplaat Medical Supplies sponsored the paint and Yagyah Canfeild, E & F Shift Officer organised for a “Welcome to Western Division” and the badge to be painted on the walls of the room.

“We thought it was time that we take things into our own hands and start doing something about the place that we spend more time at than our own homes”, said Bradley Klein, ALS on the shift.

What started as a job turned out to be quite a team building experience for the shift with plen-ty of jokes whilst working.

“We had so much fun painting. It was truly an opportunity not only to clean up and beautify this division but also team building outside of our working hours”, said Abigail Johnson ILS on the shift.

EMS Management and Dellwyn Hayward, West-ern Division’s District Manager are incredibly proud and would like to thank all for taking initia-tive and inspiring others to do the same.

A & B shift would like to thank Ysterplaat Medical Supplies for providing the paint, Yaghyah Samaai for taking the photographs for the Shift and Yagyah Canfeild for having the badge painted on the walls.


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What is quality? It’s getting things right. It is a ser-vice or product that is free of error. It is consistently meeting expected standards. These standards have been laid out by the Department of Health’s (DoH) National Core Standards for Patient Cen-tered Quality Care Policy. They have been formu-lated by the DoH in line with the Patient Rights Char-ter, the principles of Batho Pele and in response to the expected needs of the public as highlighted in patient satisfaction surveys, reports in the media and patient complaints.

These standards include: cleanliness (ambulanc-es), timely medical response, effective and com-passionate medical care, availability of medical equipment and supplies and freedom from health care associated illnesses. Although EMS management has an obligation to meet these standards, we all have an individual responsibility to ensure that we try our level best to achieve these standards. Quality care is not only about technical excellence but also addresses the psycho-social and emotional needs of the patient. Failure to include compassion in pre-hospital emer-gency care makes whatev-er care is provided less than adequate.

Personnel may have reasons for displaying an attitude of indifference towards their patients. They may be burnt out, suffering from compas-sion fatigue, pressurized to meet mission time quotas or they may just be having a bad day. Nonetheless, our patients are not privy to the practitioner’s workplace pressures, and expect to receive appropriate emergency care, as is their right. Without compassion, health care work tends to become cold, sterile and mechanical. If we only “process” our patients in an industrial assembly line fashion, we are not serving their emotional needs and therefore not providing optimal quality care.

To do this job for a long time you almost have to disconnect from your patients as the things we see and do are hard on even the strongest. However, that does not mean that we should disregard the significance of the moment for our patients. Our patients are in pain, dying, sick, or injured and it is our job to assess, treat, and transport them to the next level of definitive care. Assess, TREAT, and transport. Treating our patients doesn’t always in-volve complicated diagnostic processes or life-

saving medical interventions. More often than not, our patients don’t need any “medical” care, yet few people outside of medicine are prepared to offer them what they need. It could simply mean providing a compassionate ear to calm them down. They need someone who has “seen it all” and able to reassure, comfort and be honest with them.

So how can we display compassion to our patient?

One of the most important components of com-passion is simply listening. We need to understand why they are seeking our services and learn what is important to them. It may be an easier task for some than others, due to language and cultural beliefs, but we need to try and see the world through their eyes, and we need to do so in an accepting fash-ion, free of judgmental perspective.

Consider en-route conversations with patients in-stead of partners. Patients and their families can’t help but feel unwelcome during lengthy accounts of yesterday’s arguments with control room dis-

patchers or grievances with hospital staff. Consider how we feel when we pay for our monthly shopping at one of the major retail supermarket chains and during the en-counter not once are we rec-ognized by the cashier as she carries on a lengthy conversa-tion with the packer. Hands are not just there to be exam-ined or pricked. They can also

be held. A little empathy may help stabilize pa-tients more than that fourth set of vitals or an un-necessary IV line. Such courtesies often compete, not with lifesaving resources but rather with apathy and inconvenience.

As health care providers, we have a duty to re-spond to our patient’s needs, both physically and mentally. Next time we treat a patient; treat them as we would like our loved ones to be treated. This may sound somewhat clichéd, but it is the true benchmark of patient centered quality care and embodies the true principle of Batho Pele – putting people first.

Michael Lee Quality Improvement Manager - Western Division

PUTTING THE CARE BACK INTO QUALITY EMS


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Every patient has the right to:

• A healthy and safe environment Everyone has the right to a healthy and safe environment that will ensure their physical and mental health or wellbeing, including adequate water supply, sanitation and waste disposal as well as protection from all forms of environmen-tal danger, such as pollution, ecological degra-dation or infection.

• Participation in decision makingEvery citizen has the right to participate in the development of health policies and everyone has the right to participate in decision – making on matters affecting one’s health.

• Access to health careEveryone has the right of access to health care services that include:- Receiving timely emergency care at any health care facility that is open regardless of one’s abil-ity to pay.- Treatment and rehabilitation that must be known to the patient to enable the patient to understand such treatment or rehabilitation and the consequences thereof.- Provision for special needs in the case of new born infants, children, pregnant women, the aged, disabled persons, patients in pain, persons living with HIV and AIDS patients- Counselling without discrimination, coercion or violence on matters such as reproductive health, cancer or HIV/ AIDS- Palliative (soothing) care that is affordable and effective in cases of incurable or terminal illness- A positive disposition displayed by health care providers that demonstrate courtesy, human dignity, patience, empathy and tolerance- Health information that includes the avail-ability of health services and how best to utilise such services. Such information shall be in the language understood by the patient.

• Knowledge of one’s health insurance/ medi-cal aid scheme:A member of a health insurance or medical aid scheme is entitled to information about that in-surance or medical aid scheme and to chal-lenge, where necessary, the decisions of such health insurance or medical aid scheme relating to the member.

• Choice of health servicesEveryone has the right to choose a particular health care provider for services, or a particular health facility for treatment provided that such choice shall not be contrary to the ethical stan-dards applicable to such health care providers or facilities, and the choice of facilities is in line with prescribed service delivery guidelines.

• Be treated by a named health care providerEveryone has the right to know the person that is providing health care and therefore must be at-tended to by clearly identified health care pro-viders.

• Confidentiality and privacyInformation concerning one’s health, includ-ing information concerning treatment may only be disclosed with informed consent, except when required in terms of any law or an order of court.

• Informed consentEveryone has the right to be given full and accu-rate information about the nature of one’s illness, diagnostic procedures, the proposed treatment and the costs involved, for one to make a deci-sion that affects anyone of these elements.

• Refusal of treatment A person may refuse treatment and such refusal shall be verbal or in writing provided that such refusal does not endanger the health of others. • Be referred for a second opinionEveryone has the right to be referred for a sec-ond opinion on request to a health provider of one’s choice.

• Continuity of careNo one shall be abandoned by a health care professional worker or a health facility which ini-tially took responsibility for one’s health.

• Complain about health servicesEveryone has the right to complain about health care services and to have such complaints in-vestigated and to receive a full response on such investigations within a reasonable time frame.

YOUR PATIENTS RIGHT TO DIGNITY – National Patients’ Rights Charter


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HEX RIVER BUS ACCIDENT REUNION BREAKFASTOn May 5, 2011, EMS hosted a commemora-tive reunion breakfast for all emergency services that were present on the scene of the Hex River Bus accident in Du Doorns in 2010. Provincial traffic; munici-pal traffic; the South African Police Service; Department of Health: Emergen-cy Medical Services and Forensic Pathology Ser-vices attended the event which was sponsored by Pfizer Pharmaceuticals, Centrum Guardian Project.

The breakfast was held at the Nuy Restaurant and Guest House, twelve kilometers outside of Worcester in the Cape Winelands district. John Davids, Cape Winelands Rescue Manager initi-ated the breakfast after pitching it to Dr Robert-son, to encourage improved co-operation be-tween emergency services on difficult accident scenes and to acknowledge all staff present for their exceptional work.

The program commenced with a warm wel-come from EMS, followed by a prayer and then an in-depth objective and subjective break-down of the rescue operation. Provincial Traf-fic expressed sincere and heartfelt gratitude for team cooperation and being able to meet up a year later after responding to such a devastating call. The Keynote speaker, Fire and Rescue Chief of the Breede River Municipality, Mr Previn Gov-endor, encouraged the audience to appreciate

the different roles each r e s p o n d e r plays in inci-dent man-a g e m e n t and improve r e l a t i o n -ships through team build-ing initiatives. Even though emergency responders are meant to

respond objectively to accident scenes and do eventually become immune to the emotional impact working on a traumatic or difficult scene, guests took the opportunity to acknowledge the emotional effect of the call.

The Centrum Guardian Project sponsors re-iter-ated the appreciation of emergency workers by handing out certificates and letters, thanking responders for their continuous hard work on ac-cident scenes. Before the commencement of the breakfast, the speeches concluded with Mr Abubaker Ahmed, Regional Manager (Rural Dis-tricts), leaving a thought in the minds of guests – “We all pack each other’s parachute”, which is a symbol of the support provided amongst emergency disciplines while responding to ma-jor incidents.


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FAREWELL EMS ANGELSRegrettably the service has to bid farewell to Fanie Christians youngest son and Basic Life Sup-port (BLS) Practitioner, Rosco Christians, after he passed away in an MVA in April.

Rosco early on showed his interest in EMS and volunteered from the age of 16 at the Bredas-dorp Base until 2002. That year he completed his Level 3 and BLS and was on contract with our ser-vice until 2005 when he became permanent. He resigned to explore other options a few months ago. This well liked, friendly young man gave thir-teen years to our service, an achievement to be proud of.

He loved the outdoors, fishing, camping, swim-ming, sports and dancing.

He is survived by his father, mother, two sisters and two young daughters one of 6 years and his baby of 3 months. We will miss Rosco and extend our deepest sympathy to all who loved him.

Overberg staff

Pieter Johannes Mackay (24/12/1955 - 08/06/2011)

EMS Management would also like to extend their condolences to the family and friends of Mr Mackay who sadly passed away recently after suffering from a long term illness. He worked in Service for 37 years as a BLS practitioner in the Eden District (George).

ROSCO CHRISTIANS

08/10/1982 - 30/04/2011

EDEN DISTRICT PARTNER TO EDUCATE CHILDREN

The Western Cape’s Best Children’s service award winner, CJ Langehoven Memorial Library, in conjunction with the Oudtshoorn EMS station have embarked on an emergency awareness campaign for the school children in the area.

Demonstrations were held Tuesday, 24 May, at Rooiheuwel and Welbedacht primary schools, to teach the children how to respond in situations where first aid is needed; that is in an event of choking, asthma, nose bleeding, epilepsy and open wounds. This type of training is necessary in rural areas where an ambulance may not be able to respond on time.

Two members of the outreach team of the library, Aymore Sylvester and Rowena Booy-sen, handed out posters with the emergency numbers to the schools. The campaign would also be rolled out to other schools within the Greater Oudtshoorn area.

Angelo Booysen, Station Officer for Oudtshoorn, urged the community, not to misuse the emer-gency number.

“Hoax calls cause serious problems that ham-per the service of the EMS and especially if the ambulance is needed elsewhere where a real incident occurred,” said Booysen.


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CITY CALL CENTRE TEAM BUILDING ON ROBBEN ISLANDCall Center Agents work in stressful envi-ronments. The City Communication Cen-tre employees constantly book off sick, stay absent, go on extended leave under circumstances caused by stress leading to loss of productivity in the centre, on a daily basis. Man-agers are puzzled about why call centres have a high percentage of staff absenteeism.

After growing concerns regarding the high vol-umes, the City Communication Centre Manag-ers considered initiating team building exercises which could lead to positive outcomes such as the reduction of absenteeism and build closer relationships with managers and staff and to encourage team work. Managers are hoping that these initiatives will positively influence pro-ductivity and therefore uplift staff morale.

The first event in the project took place on April 28, where staff went on a trip to Robben Island. The Second event was a Karaoke held on May 27. The latest event, a survival camp, took place on July 1 on Sandy’s Glen Farm.

A Special Thanks to all Communication Centre employees and colleagues who took part in the team building exercises.

J Thys

Hermanus Base’s project for this year is a school awareness program aimed at educating our youngsters on what to do in an emergency. Fernando Erasmus returned from college last year as a paramedic. All fired up and ready to go, he took on this project with our rescue coordinator Ricky Telling. Their aim is to get as many colleagues involved as possible and to visit as many schools as they can.

We launched the initiative at the Hermanus Junior School’s sports day and since then many

children have been fascinated by their visit. They decided to start at grass roots level with the day care centres and crèches and it is difficult to say who is enjoying the experience more as the photos are filled with wonderful smiling faces.

Many of the Hermanus Base have grown up in our area so I guess we are making sure that we can pick from the cream of the crop of youngsters to replace and care for us when we retire.

STRAND SCHOOL PROJECT


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THANK YOU/ DANKIE EMS PERSONNELFirstly, I’d like to thank Mr Papu for responding to my plea for help on Cape Talk. I had to unex-pectedly move my friend Thomas – from Booth Memorial Hospital , who was wheelchair bound. Thank you Sharon Sampie for coordinating the transport of Thomas in a wonderfully calm and efficient manner. I’m deeply grateful for your kindness when I was quite anxious. Unfortunately I do not remember the names of the team who fetched Thomas from Booth Hospital but please could you pass on my thanks to them. They were great!

Thomas was not able to stay in South Africa and had to return to his home country yesterday. Thankfully Healthnet came to the rescue and agreed to transport Thomas to Cape Town Inter-national Airport.

Finally I’d like to thank Mr Jacobs and Michael who were absolute stars yesterday. Thomas was a bit grumpy but Mr Jacobs and Michael kept smiling and took it all in their stride. Your quiet re-assurance and calm efficiency made such a difference to Thomas’ departure from Cape Town. I’m especially grate-ful that you waited for him to check in and get his boarding pass. A big hug to both of you. I’m happy to report that Thomas arrived safely in Hamburg. He will start therapy soon and hope-fully regain the use of his arm and leg.

Many thanks to the wonderfully efficient team at Healthnet.

Liz Jones

Attaquas kloof rescue Sat, 12 April 2011

On April, 12, I was leading a group from the Southern Cape Branch of the Mountain Club of SA in Attaquas Kloof, on the farm Bonniedale. At 15h00 we were looking for a San Rock Art Site when we were suddenly and unexpectedly at-tacked by a large swarm of bees.

I happened to be the nearest person to the swarm and it went for me first. Not having time to put on protective clothing, I turned to run but caught my ankle. The result was both a disloca-tion and three broken bones in my right leg. In the end I spent three hours under attack by the bees, sustaining something like 500 stings, as well as a broken leg.

I shall never forget the relief of seeing the lights of the EMS search party around 20h30 that night. It would take them quite a while to get to me

in the dark with a trauma board and another hour to get me to the vehicle. From there to Mossel Bay in the ambulance took until midnight. Virtually a whole night’s work for people who, I believe would be on duty again the next day.

I am writing to say a heartfelt thank you to all those nameless people who took part in this rescue. I was, in the past, a member of the Cape Town Mountain Club Search and Rescue and I know something of what is involved.

I commend the professionalism and concern that was shown throughout. And I must add an extra word of appreciation for the visit I received in hospital from some of the team. That was above and beyond the call of duty.

Hugo Leggatt

We, residents living at 149 Church Street, Craw-ford would like to express our gratitude towards the men and women who spend their lives sav-ing others.

The paramedic and ILS practitioner responded quickly to an SOS call while the EMS Medic kept our land lady calm and gave instructions to the crew on how to tend to the patient.

The ambulance crew arrived in no time after we made the call and were efficient, friendly and did their jobs effortlessly.

We want to let you know that we think you are very good at what you do and we want to thank you for a job well done. We are grateful that you responded to our call for help. May God bless you on this noble journey.

Yours sincerely,

Oliver Bondo


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WELL DONE EMSEMS YOU HAVE MADE US PROUD!

“To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains

but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.”

Nelson Mandela

WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Have something to say? Voice your opinion.

Send us all your ideas, article leads (tips), stories and photographs to:

The [email protected]

083 286 4227

alternatively articles and photographs can be dropped off at:

Room 112Communications Officer

EMS Head OfficeKarl Bremer

BellvilleCape Town

Please note: Due to space constraints and editorial discretion, not all articles

will be published. Thank you to everyone that contributed to

this issue of the Siren. It is much appreciated.

Shakira Hartley, one of the city’s female Rescue Paramedics represented EMS on the SABC teen programme:

“Keeping it Real”

The episode will air in August.

Dear Shakira

EMS Management would like to:

Extend their condolences to:- Corne Van Antwerpen - Mr Brukkels- Abdul Kader - Mark Campher

Who have lost family members over the past few months.

Words cannot help ease the loss but you are in our thoughts and prayers.


our international ems rescuers save the day · international ems rescuers save the day (continued)...

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