286 GAUTENG AMBULANCE ACCIDENTS IN THREE YEARS

Gauteng provincial government ambulances were involved in an astounding 286 accidents from 2011 to July this year. The vast majority of these (254 or 89%) were major rather than minor accidents.

These figures are revealed in a written reply by Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu to my questions in the Gauteng Legislature.

The breakdown per year is as follows:

2011 - 98 accidents

2012 - 80 accidents

2013 - 97 accidents

Jan to July 2014 - 11 accidents

The above accidents have led to 95 disciplinary actions against negligent drivers.

It seems that this has contributed to the large decrease in ambulance accidents so far this year, which is good news that I hope continues.

According to Mahlangu, the department is still verifying the cost of ambulance repairs, but it is likely to be a high figure.

This province has only 428 emergency ambulances, many of which are off the road because they are being repaired in workshops.

The ambulance shortage is a major reason for poor emergency response times. There is a more than one in two chance that an ambulance will have a serious accident over its driving lifetime.

Advanced driver training is essential to ensure that ambulances avoid accidents and are available to pick up emergency patients.

Statement issued by Jack Bloom MPL, DA Gauteng Shadow Health MEC, September 2 2014

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