Health sector trade union Hospersa says it’s considering withdrawing its members in EMS services from hotspots in Cape Town and elsewhere in the country.
The warning comes after an eight-year-old boy died because the ambulance transporting him to a hospital, was robbed on the N2 in Cape Town in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The boy was seriously injured in an accident and died in hospital as a result of the severity of his injuries when he was eventually taken to the Red Cross Children’s Hospital.
“The robbers held the EMS personnel at gunpoint, robbing them of their personal belongings before fleeing and leaving the ambulance immobile. A second ambulance had to be dispatched however the delay caused by the robbery contributed to the patient losing his life, said Hospersa General Secretary, Noel Desfontaines.
“The increasing rate of these attacks on EMS personnel is alarming. It is regrettable that Government’s slow pace in addressing these attacks has now had fatal results,” he added.
He said Hospersa has previously called for national intervention from the politicians to address the scourge of attacks on EMS workers in the country.
“These attacks have been increasing at an alarming rate where this year has seen several incidents reported in not just the Western Cape, but in KwaZulu-Natal, Gauteng, Free State and in Limpopo.”
“In the case of the Western Cape, there were over 100 attacks in 2016, which prompted Hospersa to write an open letter to the Western Cape Health Member of the Executive Council (MEC) about the issue. The Federation of Unions of South Africa (FEDUSA) of which Hospersa is an affiliate, also wrote a similar letter to the Minister of Health, Dr Aaron Motsoaledi requesting intervention at national level” Desfontaine said.
“When we wrote to the Minister [of Health] we were shunned and told that these attacks are not a health issue but of a criminal nature,” said Desfontaines.
“We will again write to the Minister to inform him of our members’ intention to possibly withdraw the service which would make the attacks on our members a health issue,” he added.
“We cannot have a situation where the government continues as if it is business as usual while the system degenerates,” said Desfontaines.
“According to the OHS [Occupational Health and Safety] Act employees have the right to refuse to work in unsafe conditions, but as we have previously indicated, such refusal is often problematic. The reason for this is that EMS workers have a duty to serve the community and it becomes very difficult to refuse when somebody in need calls you. Unfortunately, as a last resort our members are considering withdrawing the service” Desfontaines said.
