The Western Cape Health Department has told staff to leave "high risk areas" if they fear for their safety.
|||Cape Town - Health officials are concerned about the recent attacks on emergency services staff, and say they will not allow ambulance personnel to be at risk while they are trying to save the lives of others.
The Western Cape Health Department has told staff to leave “high risk areas” - where there has been gang activity - if they fear for their safety.
It has identified Delft, Elsies River, Manenberg, Mitchells Plain, Khayelitsha and Lavender Hill as high risk-areas.
In the most recent incident, on Sunday morning, emergency services staff were attending to a call in Rocklands when shots were fired and a bullet was lodged in the ambulance. No injuries were reported.
This was just one of several attacks on staff since June. Staff members were attacked in three separate incidents in Mitchells Plain last month, including an incident in which a team was robbed of personal belongings at gunpoint.
The Department of Health’s Angelique Jordaan said staff had been escorted by police during gang violence, but the police were often committed elsewhere and were not always on call to help paramedics.
There have been 10 reported incidents this year.
“Hot spots have been identified and include Khayelitsha Site B and areas in both the southern and northern suburbs where gang activity is rife. Unfortunately certain incidents occur randomly and it is a case of the ambulance crew being in the wrong place at the wrong time with no forewarning,” Jordaan said.
“Responses to calls in gang affected areas could be delayed as police escorts are not readily available. The gang violence has impacted on staff psychologically and emotionally, as they are also caught up in the crossfire at times.”
Jordaan said that if violence against medical personnel continued, the department would consider declaring the region a “no-go area” for their staff after consultation with the SAPS.
Health MEC Theuns Botha said on Tuesday that the department had entered into discussions with its emergency services staff about the possible options to reduce their risk.
“We will not allow a situation that will continue to put our staff at risk. There have been discussions with SAPS as well. As a government, we need to work closely with Community Safety and community structures to ensure the safety of EMS (emergency management services) staff. This close working relationship is always relevant in a volatile situation where people’s lives are at stake,” he said
Police spokesman Andrè Traut said the police had not noticed a trend in attacks on EMS staff but they were available to help. “SAPS render a policing service to all members of the public, including members of emergency services, and we will assist with protection in areas of concern, or if an immediate threat exists.”
matthew.hirsch@inl.co.za
Cadet News Agency
Cape Times
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