Dr Nomafrench Mbombo says emergency services are gearing up to respond to an average of 60 000 calls between 15 December and 15 January this festive season.
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The Western Cape minister of health and wellness revealed the province’s festive season readiness plans at the Hermanus Provincial Hospital on Monday, highlighting the increased cases of trauma and emergency services that occur during this period.
‘Already, our healthcare facilities have begun to decrease elective procedures to allow for the reallocation of sufficient resources to our emergency centres for the anticipated increase in medical (and trauma) incidents.’
‘These facilities have also taken the necessary steps to ensure a secured supply and inventories of projected consumables needs for the festive season.’
She adds that readiness plans to ensure that personnel can place patients in the most appropriate facility in the shortest time are in place. ‘There will again be a strong emphasis on ensuring effective pre-hospital treatment, stabilisation for serious illness and injuries, and transport to definitive care for residents and visitors of the Western Cape.’
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The Department of Health will implement the following steps to ensure that resources are available:
- Ensuring that personnel, ambulances and rescue services are available to respond to emergency incidents around the clock.
- By strategically placing ambulances and rescue vehicles along major highways that are known to be hotspots for road incidents.
- By placing crews, as well as the province’s Emergency Communication Centres, at strategic points to promote road safety on peak traffic days, starting from 15 December.
- EMS will work with the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI) and Lifeguards SA on beach-going days, including 16 and 26 December, and New Year’s Day.
Furthermore, the Western Cape has expanded its rescue drone service this year to rural districts such as the Garden Route, Cape Winelands and Overberg. More pilots have been trained, and the province’s five drones, which have completed nearly 50 missions this year, will serve more residents. The drones are equipped with high-definition cameras and other sensors, providing real-time situational awareness to emergency services.
‘Our specialist drone teams continue to play critical roles because they can reach inaccessible areas to search for missing individuals, provide real-time video feed to pinpoint the exact location of the individual, and operate in complex environments that may be too dangerous for human first responders,’ says Mbombo.
‘In scenarios where individuals are stuck in a location that is hard to reach immediately by human first responders – like on a mountain, in a flooded area, or (…) a building on fire – our drones can be used to deliver essential supplies.’
‘This might include first aid kits, food, water, or communication devices. Our EMS drone teams promise quicker, safer responses and potentially more lives saved.’
‘Their capacity to provide valuable real-time data, access inaccessible areas, and extend operational capabilities makes them indispensable for the province’s response to medical emergencies.’
Mbombo appeals to the public to be responsible during this festive season. ‘In doing so, you will help us to help those in need of health care. With health services traditionally working under increased pressure during this period we all must work together [to protect] the healthcare system, particularly during a time [when] resources are even more strained. As we celebrate the end of a long year, let us also thank all the law enforcement and medical personnel who will be on duty during this time.’
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Picture: @WCHealthMEC / X