New emergency care technicians graduates from North West EMRS College
The North West EMRS College held Emergency Care Technicians (ECTs) graduations ceremony on Thursday, 06 August 2015. A total of 33 ECTs graduated and the group comprised of in-service personnel as well as school leavers who were offered a bursary by the Department of Health. The graduates have already been registered with the Health Professions Council of South Africa and are now licensed to practise.
“It is only fair that I give back to the province for they have given me a bright future by giving me a bursary to study this very important course. I therefore commit to serving the people of the province with dignity and respect,” Mr. Lesang Ntehelang said after the graduation ceremony in Orkney.
Speaking during the ceremony, MEC Dr. Magome Masike said the college is showing commitment and dedication to continue training emergency care personnel in this professional qualification and produce these highly skilled cadres.
Masike called on ECTs to be developmental and transformational activists who will improve the delivery of emergency medical care services to our communities. The call comes following complaints related to Emergency Medical services that the Department continues, he said.
“The common complaint is that our ambulances arrive late when called to attend emergencies or in some cases they do not pitch up at all. There are even suspicions among some of our stakeholders that some of the cases of medical negligence are associated with negligent ambulance drivers.
“I can also confirm that the Department has also previously dealt with cases of negligent driving on the part of our drivers. The end results of this negligent behavior has been that some of our ambulances spent more time in garages being serviced when they are supposed to be attending to emergencies on the road,” he said.
ECTs graduate, Ms Kate Swartz thanked the department for offering an opportunity to study and had pledged to serve the people of the North West province with pride.
“I am excited about the opportunity that the department of health has offered me to fulfill my dream of studying emergency medical care. I remain indebted to the department but I will repay them by serving my people with dignity they deserve,” Ms Swarts said.
The graduates were the last to complete the ECT NQF level 05 qualification. The National Emergency Care, Education and Training policy provides for a new three tier system of Emergency Care Qualification to be introduced in 2016. The new ECT qualification has been upgraded to NQF level 06.
However, this new development will not in any way affect the graduates negatively as they will still be able to progress with further studies within the same field of Emergency Medical Care.
Enquiries:
Tebogo Lekgethwane
Provincial Health spokesperson
Cell: 082 929 9958
Email: tlekgethwane@nwpg.gov.za
