ER24 News

Potch water shortage - ER24 aids the community

2013-03-01

Potchefstroom residents are currently experiencing a severe water shortage. Currently all taps on the western side of Potchefstroom, including the Bult, Ikageng, Promosa, Dassierand, Potch Industrial, CBD and other residential areas are dry. While the municipality works around the clock to rectify the matter, which has been getting worse over the last few days with all reserves drying up, residents have been receiving water delivered in water tankers. Tlokwe City Council, fire dept, disaster management, private business and the SANDF have been running double shifts to ensure a constant supply of water to affected residents.

Remember: without water, you cant cook, you canand#39;t drink, you canand#39;t wash, you canand#39;t clean, you canand#39;t flush the loo. Almost a week without water has residents scrabbling for water.

This Morning, ER24 Potch Branch Manger received a desperate call for urgent assistance. While the tankers are constantly shuttling water, the community are expected to fetch the water at allocated water points around the town. A plea for help was made to ER24 as a private, small Chronic Care facility / home nursing / frail care centre in Promosa was desperately in need of water. They had no means of getting enough water for the 84 Terminally ill patients in their care safely to the Home. They last had water Two days ago.

ER24 Potch Branch Manager made a few calls and within an hour, Advanced Life Support Paramedic Grant Williams together with branch manager, Gavin Edwards and one of the Part-time crew, Werner Eksteen were on the way to Promosa with 700 liters of water. Kindly ALSO plant Hire in Potchefstroom agreed to Lend ER24 a trailer and Werner Eksteen arranged with his dad to lend us a 700 Litre tank and ALSO provide ER24 with 700 litres of borehole water from their Borehole.

When Our crew arrived at the home, they soon became the centre of attraction with Local residents queuing for water too. Not able to say no and turn the desperate residents away, Our crews assisted, left filled up again. And returned...

We are so very Proud of our team. By 21:00 this evening, Grant and Werner had Provided local residents in the area with no less than 2100 liters of water! A small contribution, but a valuable one!

Truly displaying the values of Real Help Real Fast!!

Written by ER24 Potchefstroomand#39;s Branch Manager, Gavin Edwards

Ford Teams Up With Rescue SA For A Safer South Africa

2012-09-11

andbull; Ford provided five Ford Rangers to Rescue SA for emergency service training

andbull; Students educated on the complexities of removing occupants from modern-day vehicles in the event of an accident

More Pictures

PRETORIA, South Africa, 10 September, 2012 - Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa (FMCSA) is hosting a motor vehicle rescue course in conjunction with ER24 and Rescue South Africa at its Silverton Assembly Plant, east of Pretoria.

Rescue South Africa is an official South African Disaster Response Team made up of volunteer emergency response specialists from the South African public and private sector emergency and ancillary services.

FMCSA donated five of its Ford Ranger models to the organisation. The vehicles were utilised for training medical personnel from ER24. The exercise allowed the students to understand and experience the correct techniques required to ensure the safe removal of occupants from the vehicle in the event of an accident.

"It is very hard to get any new cars to work with, especially with demonstrations like these. We are extremely grateful to Ford for allowing us to conduct this training with their Ford Ranger models. Having the highest safety rating in its class the Ranger proved to be the perfect choice," explained Hugh Price-Hughes, Operations Manager Rescue South Africa. "The incredible safety features available in newer vehicles makes the extrication of trapped victims more challenging and can also
pose significant hazards to rescue personnel."

"This is the first course for paramedics at ER24 outlining Light Motor Vehicle Rescue where they experienced first hand medical rescue on a new level," explained Werner Vermaak, Communications Manager of ER24. "We have been given a huge opportunity by FMCSA and Rescue South Africa and are very grateful for it as we know it will make a difference and ultimately benefiting the patient."

While the modern-day vehicle safety systems drastically reduce the likelihood of death or serious injury in the event of a car accident, if a person becomes trapped, they are now much more difficult to extricate. This is due to the fact that vehicles are constructed with stronger materials and are strategically reinforced.

In addition passive safety systems such as air bags and pre-tensioners pose significant hazards if they did not deploy during the initial impact. Such systems need to be disarmed prior to the cutting of the vehicle or avoided during the extrication evolution.

"Ford is proud to be a part of this initiative," said Jeff Nemeth, President and CEO of Ford Motor Company of Southern Africa. "No one wants to be involved in an accident but if the worst were to happen, the Ranger is proven to provide outstanding protection and by ensuring rescue personnel are able to safely extricate victims following an accident our customers are further assured of the highest level of protection."

A series of crash tests were also conducted on the training days. This allowed the students to better understand how the vehicles many safety features performed in a collision.

Rangerandrsquo;s advanced safety protection begins with a reinforced passenger cell that utilises high-strength steel throughout. Utilising multiple load paths in the front, side, and rear of the vehicle, crash forces are directed away from occupants, providing high levels of protection in the event of a collision. This structure, along with the all-new ladder frame, was optimised to manage the crash energy in a variety of impacts and provide protection for all passengers.

Side curtain airbags deploy from the headliner to provide a protective cushion for the head of occupants in case of a side impact. The curtain is designed to protect both rows of occupants in Double Cab models by covering the upper side structure and glass from the A-pillar to the rear of the passenger compartment.

New side airbags also deploy from the side bolster of the front seats to protect the thorax from side-impact forces, working in tandem with the front airbags for the driver and front passenger.
Other safety technologies include three-point safety belts for all seating positions, with pre-tensioners and load limiter for the front seats, as well as Ford BeltMinder technology which helps remind front-seat occupants to wear their belts.

Proud of our Potch medic!

2012-09-06

An off duty ER24 Potchesftroom medic was on his way home yesterday evening after a meeting at the branch, when he noticed the strange way in which a small helicopter appeared to be flying. The aircraft was flying very low, and he decided he would follow it from the ground for a while to see if something was wrong.

Werner Eksteen followed the helicopter, in his private car, to where it landed at a nearby airfield. He waited until the crew had turned the aircraft off and approached the three men who climbed out.

They appeared shaken and concerned, and when asked if there was a problem, they explained that they were on their way to Johannesburg from Kimberley, and they were unable to fly any further due to the heavy cloud cover and imminent rain. They were concerned that they did not have anywhere to go, a place to stay, or an idea as to what they would do next.

Werner immediately offered his assistance, calling around to hotels in the area, finding accommodation for the three stranded men for the night. Werner even drove them to the hotel with his private car.

This morning, Werner went to the hotel and took the three men back to where the helicopter had been kept overnight. Unfortunately, they were still unable to make their way on the final stretch of their journey to Johannesburg with the poor weather seemingly wanting to stay for a while. Werner then took the three men to a local coffee shop to warm up and decide on the plan forward.

We just want to say thank you to Werner for his care to his community, and we commend him for his empathy and compassion to those in need, on duty for ER24 or not.

Watch your back!

2012-09-04

Paramedics need to watch their backs.

With the week of September 3 - 9 being Back Awareness week, we encourage all of our staff to make sure they know about the risk in picking up and carrying patients, and doing it in the right way in order to protect their back from injury.

Every day we bend down to assess patients, pick them up to put on our stretchers, pick the stretchers up, and then push them into the ambulance. It doesnand#39;t stop there though, once you reach the hospital you pull the patient out of the ambulance, push them into the hospital and then pick them up to put them onto the hospital bed.

Sometimes patients are able to assist while being moved, while others are not. But generally, no matter how big or small a patient may be, there is some degree of strain that is placed on the lower part of your back.

Paramedics are taught early in their studies that there is a right way and a wrong way to lift patients. It is important to keep your back straight, keep your knees bent and place all of the weight in your legs, using the strength in your legs to lift rather than using your back.

A back injury could be the end to a paramedicand#39;s career, where they will be "boarded" into a light duty position, not being able to lift equipment or patients for fear of impacting the injury further, and it is therefore that it cannot be stressed enough how important it is to watch your back.

A reminder to have yourself checked...

2012-09-04

Fact: Heart disease kills one in four people.

This alone should make you want to go and check the condition of your heart.

September is the month in which the avid campaigns for healthy hearts is held, and it serves as a simple reminder to have your health and the health of your heart checked. It doesnandrsquo;t take long to have your cholesterol levels checked; a high cholesterol level being one of the major contributing factors to heart disease.

Cholesterol build up in the arteries put the heart muscle under strain, as more effort is needed to pump the same amount of blood through the body but through smaller or narrowed channels. The heart muscle then gets tired very quickly, and the effectiveness of the heart muscle to pump blood is diminished. All other organs suffer due to this, as the correct levels of oxygen carried by the blood are then not transported to them and their functions begin to deteriorate too.

Cholesterol deposits in the arteries may also break apart, where small pieces will be carried along through the vessels by the blood and where they are unable to pass through they get struck. These can get stuck anywhere in the body, depending on their size, but the most common locations are in the vessels of the heart, the brain and lungs.

Heart disease is preventable, and if your predisposing conditions are found early enough, they can be controlled. Focusing on a healthy diet and lifestyle, low in "bad fats" and salt, and getting regular exercise could assist in preventing heart disease.

The most important aspect is to have regular check-ups. Rather find out early that something in your lifestyle needs to be changed, than suffer at a later stage.

A boy's life saved...

2012-08-16

The glory and praise usually goes to the "Heroes". The Emergency Care Providers that race out loudly with lights flashing and sirens screaming, those that do all they can to save that life. The paramedics and emergency care providers that deal directly with the emergency, those on the scene, they are often branded as the "Heroes". Little thought is given to those behind the scenes. In fact, they are often simply forgotten in all of the drama that ensues.

At around 10h15 on the 15th of August, the school bell rang for the end of the period indicating to learners that it was time to move on to the next lesson. What exactly went wrong, or how or why it happened is not really important; the fact is that a 15 year old student fell from the first floor of the school building, hitting the metal stair-case hand-railings as he fell. This fall triggered an entire sequence of events. ER24 Paramedics arrived to find the childandrsquo;s lifeless body laying at the bottom of the stairs; no breathing and no pulse present. The child was clinically dead. Paramedics began to resuscitate the young boy - intravenous drips were inserted, a tube was placed into his airway, chest compressions were started. The child had fallen a considerable height and he had hit the metal bar with such great force that it seemed that all odds were against the 15 year old who just minutes earlier was simply changing class at school. The paramedics were determined to beat these odds.

Medication and electrical shocks were administered to try and get the heart to beat. For at least eight minutes the prognosis seemed dismal to say the least. Paramedics continued with CPR. Ten minutes had passed when suddenly a rhythm on the heart monitor changed; the young boy had a pulse. He was still not breathing and the prognosis still seemed very poor. Then, slowly the child began to breathe again on his own and he started moving his body.
AER24 was requested to airlift the boy to a specialist trauma unit in Johannesburg and the helicopter landed on the school sports fields after which the child was quickly loaded; the helicopter becoming airborne again with the patient on board shortly thereafter . About 26 minutes later the helicopter landed in Johannesburg with a stable, yet still critical patient.

All of this actually happened. It was real. The initial call was made to the local Police Station where Cst Mosiane and Cst Mooketsi were working. These two constables immediately realised the seriousness of the incident and their fast actions in notifying the Advanced Life Support Paramedics really set the wheels in motion. Had these Heroes that are hidden away in a radio room at the Police Station, not made the call to Advanced Life Support Paramedics as fast as they did, there is no doubt that this incident would have had a tragic outcome. We THANK YOU from the bottom of our hearts for being the "Hidden, Unseen Heros!".

Our thoughts and prayers are with the family, friends and teachers of this young boy during his long road to recovery.

Loss of a colleague...

2012-08-14

Dear colleagues and friends,

It is never easy to write a statement such as this, especially when it involves our own who dedicate their lives to saving others.

With great sadness we have to inform you that a tragic accident took place yesterday afternoon involving ER24 crews. Buntu Nokhosi and Clifford Ntsoko were on their way to assist with a life-threatening emergency when their Medical Rescue vehicle collided with another vehicle on the R555 near the N12 in Ogies, Mpumalanga.

Buntu was critically injured in the accident, and despite efforts to save his life by all medical personnel, he succumbed to his injuries in hospital. Clifford was seriously injured and he remains in a serious, but stable condition in a Witbank hospital.

Buntu Nokhosi started his career as a Basic Life Support Paramedic with ER24 in November 2009. Buntu is survived by his family including his fiance and young child.

Investigations are still underway as to what caused the tragic collision.

Our deepest sympathies are with Buntuandrsquo;s family and his colleagues who are dealing with the loss, and we wish for the speedy recovery of Clifford who remains in hospital.

On behalf of our CEO, Andrew Boden, who is away on official business, and all ER24 staff we wish to convey our condolences.

Top Gear

2012-08-13

The most sort after motoring television show "in the world" arrived in Durban on the 16th of July 2012. The Top Gear Festival drew motoring enthusiasts from all over South Africa to experience a weekend of sheer motoring pleasure and performance. The motoring extravaganza took place at the Moses Mabida Stadium which comfortably housed 20 000 spectators per day and all enthusiasts were treated to street racing, 4x4 rides, FMX and the most expensive list of cars that anyone had ever seen!

The ER24 Specialised Medical Services team were available throughout the entire festival which included more than 40 paramedics from ER24andrsquo;s branch in Pietermaritzburg and the Specialised Medical Services crew from Durban. The 3 day festival saw 78 000 spectators which necessitated 3 medical facilities manned by a team of doctors and nursing staff from Life Healthcare. Not only did ER24 provide medical standby during the festival but due to the amount of vehicles and hazardous fuel at the venue, we provided our fire and rescue vehicle with the latest equipment.

Great fun was had by all who attended and we look forward to seeing Jeremy Clarkson and his team next year!

World of Heroes

2012-08-07

How would you feel if you were able to save a life? Most people would refer to that person as a hero - but at ER24, an almost every day feat for our paramedics, it is our duty, a career we have chosen.

Taking it one step further is the awesome team at GoPro South Africa; their motto?

Be a HERO; something that ties in so well with the emergency medical service side of ER24. A partnership that suddenly exploded into something amazing, between GoPro and ER24, where the teams would be able to work together to change the face of the emergency services. Live the life of a paramedic though 3D real time footage via GoProand#39;s on ER24 vehicles. Experience high speed responses to medical emergencies and view real life situations where heroes work to save the lives of others.

This partnership envisions public education and awareness while giving something back to our team who are out there on our roads and in our homes come rain or shine. The real life every day heroes who hold the hand of your sick loved one as they go to hospital in an ambulance, or stand in the pouring rain, desperately trying to save a life after a head on collision.

With Omnico PTY Ltd as the sponsor of the GoPro Be a Hero partnership with ER24, footage will be gathered from all aspects of vehicles that are distributed in ER24and#39;s fleet, starting off in Johannesburg. The aim is not to sensationalise a gory side of the Emergency Services with "what is the worse thing you have seen", but rather to shed a new light on what it is that we actually do without compromising our oaths and patient confidentiality.

This is real life for our paramedics; Be a HERO with GoPro and ER24. You can become part of the World of Heroes team by joining us on - Twitter, Facebook or Web

For bikers written by a biker

2012-07-06

On Monday morning on my usual way to work, I stopped at an accident scene that turned out to be fatal. I donandrsquo;t know what his name was, or anything else about him. Riding along the emergency lane, his bike and a hatchback made impact, his body lay halfway between the car and the destroyed bike. His helmet had come off and lay on its side. The memory is imprinted on me forever, and I pray to never see another.

Iandrsquo;ve been riding that stretch of highway on the N1 between Beyers Naude and Malibongwe daily for 4 years now, rain and shine, and itandrsquo;s the best decision Iandrsquo;ve ever made. It gives me an hour a day extra with my kids, and a smile on my face when I get to work. Itandrsquo;s faster, cheaper and more fun, but most people believe itandrsquo;s more dangerous too, and clearly, itandrsquo;s deadly dangerous.

There are a lot more people who are taking a bike to work, everyday I see more and more of them sharing the spaces between the traffic, and I salute them for their bravery, and for overcoming their fear. But overcoming the fear isnandrsquo;t enough, riding a motorcycle means that you have to constantly think ahead and plan your route, assessing dangers and patterns that could be dangerous. Itandrsquo;s a lot more interactive than a car.

I use the biker lane, "lane splitting" itandrsquo;s called, and acceptable in most, although not all the world. In South Africa it is legal. It eases congestion during rush hour traffic measurably, and leads to increased traffic flows and decreased engine wear, for everyone, not just the bikers. In the current climate, biking can and will increase, and it will be a good thing for everyone, but it doesnandrsquo;t have to be deadly.

For the car drivers, or cagers as bikers call them, or traffic, itandrsquo;s fairly simple: careful where you point that thing, itandrsquo;s loaded. When you " didnandrsquo;t see him" when there clearly was someone there, it is your fault, completely. I do not have an invisibility cloak ok? Just a great big headlight, highly visible I assure you. Not looking properly is a common problem among traffic. Also, you know when you think changing lanes will get you there faster? Thatandrsquo;s stupid, and messes up traffic for the rest of the poor cagers. If you want to get there faster than the cars around you, get a bike.

For bikers, or idiots as most people call us, itandrsquo;s also very simple:

Donandrsquo;t be stupid. See, even bikers can read that. Donandrsquo;t be stupid. That starts with getting training, wearing protective gear like helmets and gloves and boots, and putting your headlight on. It continues with slowing down, riding where people expect you, and not bumping into anything. Itandrsquo;s also very important to be polite. You have the rest of your life to get there, donandrsquo;t rush it.

Lastly, both cars and bikes: STAY OUT OF THE EMERGENCY LANE. Itandrsquo;s against the law, very rude, and stupid too. I know Iandrsquo;m using that word a lot, but there isnandrsquo;t another one for what I see daily. Unfortunately we are all stuck together in this Joburg place, and we really do have to share it. But the emergency lane is like holy ground, it is communal space for when things go wrong, for ambulances and Police and Towing guys and things andhellip; not a place to drive or ride on.

It would be awesome to see more bikes on the roads, but there has to be much greater emphasis on learning and sharing information that makes us all safer. Use your Indicators, look properly where you are going, clearly itandrsquo;s an issue for some of you. And if you want to ride with us, just ask. The more bikes on the roads the safer and more convenient it will become for all of us. For the new bikers, ask a biker, heandrsquo;ll know stuff you donandrsquo;t want to find out on your own.