Awareness and First Aid
International Women's Day is an opportunity to applaud the valuable contributions and resilience of women in ER24.
Introducing Marsane Botha, ER24’s Learning and Development Facilitator, Coastal Region:
I feel that as a woman in the emergency medical care field, you sometimes need to work 10 times harder to prove yourself and your worth – but people are more accepting and open-minded than they were in the past. There’s a lot that male paramedics can learn from their female colleagues, especially how to speak to children. When a child is in distress or at the scene of an accident, some men need to change their mindsets and bring out the softer side of themselves.
As a child, whenever I heard sirens, I'd ask my mom to follow them because I wanted to know what was happening. We lived very close to the N1 in the Parow North area in Cape Town, and when I was in Grade 9, there was an accident on the highway. We were able to stand on the field and watch the ER24 crew do the rescue. I immediately told my mom I wanted to be a paramedic.
After finishing my National Diploma (NDip) in Emergency Medical Care, I started freelancing at ER24. As there was no permanent position available at the time, I completed my Bachelor of Emergency Medical Care while working full time at a different company. In 2017, I joined ER24’s North Metropole branch to gain more experience and exposure. Three years later, I moved to Mediclinic and entered my current position.
My job is to assist with training where clinical shortcomings have been identified as well as clinical courses we want our ER24 staff to complete. I also develop new training content to ensure they’re up to date with their training. Among the highlights of my work are staying up to date with new medical terms and training interventions and building close relationships with the operational staff and branch managers I work with.
My daily duties entail working on our Workplace Skills Plan (WSP). This involves formulating content for classes, ensuring the staff have their manuals, prepping for the class, and facilitating the session. I’m always available to staff to discuss clinical issues or any training-related concerns. I’m also in close contact with the branch managers of the various bases about any training needed. Some days, I physically visit the branches to run calls with the crew and create relationships with all the ER24 staff. This is when I see what challenges they encounter and work out how we can fix or mitigate these issues.