Gauteng Health investing on smart technologies to improve EMS response times
In spite of an increase in the demand for emergency medical services in Gauteng owing to a growing population and high volume of calls, the Gauteng Emergency Medical Services (EMS) has managed to maintain 88% response time for calls under 60 minutes, known as the golden hour which is aligned to international standards (80%) and trends.
This was revealed by MEC for Health and Wellness Nomantu Nkomo- Ralehoko when responding to questions in the Gauteng Provincial Legislature.
Nkomo-Ralehoko gave an assurance that Gauteng EMS continues to work on strategies to improve priority 1 response times under 30 minutes in urban areas and 60 minutes in rural areas.
Of the +- 70 000 emergencies being responded to by EMS on a monthly basis 3% of these amount to priority 1 cases (life threatening). Of the 3%, 1% is medical cases and 2% is made up of trauma cases that require the intervention of law enforcement agencies.
The MEC stated that in a bid to improve response times the Gauteng Department of Health (GDoH) has invested in smart technologies such as push to talk devices that have live tracking to emergency calls and tracking, panic buttons and cameras in the emergency vehicles in order to mitigate against paramedic attacks which contributes towards delayed responses.
Other interventions include continuous engagement with law enforcement agencies (SAPS, Metro Police and Gauteng Crime Prevention Wardens) to assist with escort to areas that are marked as hot zones.
“In addition, we have procured five 4x4 specialised ambulances to access all terrains in the province and also implemented Gauteng Scheduled
Emergency Transport (G-SET) which is meant to reduce the patient waiting times during referrals between health facilities,” explained Nkomo- Ralehoko.
The introduction of G-SET will further free up ambulances to respond to primary calls like accidents, assaults, house emergencies and others. The G-SET programme has already yielded positive results so far in terms of response times, smooth model of patient referral and transportation, and improved patient experience.
The MEC pointed out that service delivery protests and hot zone - where Ambulances must first be escorted by the police before entering areas - and paramedic attacks are among the leading courses delays in respond times.
The GDoH continues to plead with the public to not block ambulances during protests and also to not allow criminals to intimidate EMS crews from discharging their duties.For more information please contact:
Motalatale Modiba, Head of Communication
Cell: : 064 803 0808
E-mail: healthmediaenquiries@gauteng.gov. za
Tshepo Shawa, Spokesperson for the MEC for Health
Cell: 072 222 6333 or
E-mail: Tshepo.Shawa@gauteng.gov.za
