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Daily News reports that according to two private ambulance services in Durban, paramedics often come under verbal abuse and are threatened with violence when they attend to patients at collisions or call outs.
KwaZulu-Natal MEC for Health Nomagugu Simelane condemned an incident in which one of the department’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) vehicles was stoned by community members in eShowe on Sunday. The ambulance was pelted with stones when EMS paramedics responded to a motor vehicle accident involving a motorbike at Obanjeni Reserve. Two privately owned ambulance companies shared their concerns about safety. Prem Balram of Reaction Unit SA (RUSA) ambulance service said security teams accompany paramedics when they attended to patients in high-risk areas. According to Balram, certain communities become volatile when medical assistance is given to a person who is suspected of committing a crime. “Criminals are lurking everywhere and see paramedics as soft targets,” Balram lamented. Gareth Naidoo of KZN VIP Security and Ambulance said paramedics in Phoenix experienced similar incidents of violence against them. “We have had incidents in the townships where paramedics were threatened to be killed if they did not attend to every patient even if it was just one ambulance on the scene,” Naidoo indicated. The Daily News reports lists other reported incidents.
- Read the full original of the report in the above regard by Zainul Dawood at Daily News
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