Cape Town - While the Western Cape Department of Health and Wellness has assured that its platforms are ready to respond to the increased pressure during the festive season, it has appealed for greater supervision and responsibility during this time.
A media briefing on the department’s Festive Readiness Plan was held with Health MEC Mireille Wenger, chief operating officer Dr Saadiq Kariem, director for emergency and clinical services support Dr Juanita Arendse, provincial director of EMS Craig Wylie, and Red Cross War Memorial Children’s Hospital CEO Dr Anita Parbhoo, on Wednesday.
Arendse said in terms of children’s safety, a critical challenge during the summer season were pedestrian accidents, drownings or near drownings incidents.
She appealed for greater supervision of children around bodies of water, and for children to swim where lifeguards are present.
Arendse said data from within the department allowed it to monitor trends over time, and then match this with the staffing required.
Kariem said during last year’s festive season, from December 15 to January 15, roughly 120 000 people were seen at emergency centres within the province.
Trauma cases formed a significant part of the case load, with 30 500 people presenting with trauma-related incidents.
“We all know that alcohol plays a huge role in contributing to that trauma. We know that alcohol, from our perspective, is the third largest contributor of mortality at least and of disability.
“We want to appeal to people to use alcohol responsibly, that plays a significant role in trauma, drownings, fatalities etc.”
Last year over the same period, the province recorded 450 homicides directly attributed to gunshot wounds, stabbings, and assault, and 130 road fatalities.
Of the 30 500 trauma-related incidents, around 521 were gunshot wounds, 7 000 assaults, and 5 500 were stabbings.
There were also 200 sexual offences cases.
In terms of EMS readiness, Wylie said there were 53 EMS stations across the province, with around 254 ambulances and a large fleet of auxiliary vehicles.
“We've even got a rescue crane with the Department of Health and Wellness that assists us in rescuing and getting to our patients to hospitals across the province.”
There were 1 600 EMS personnel in the province.
Wylie said these personnel respond to around 60 000 calls during the festive season.
“Our festive season will start on December 13 and we’re expecting to see an influx of traffic from our national routes, so the N2 and N1, and what we will be doing is we will be bolstering those routes with extra vehicles through the Garden Route, Overberg, and Central Karoo coming down through the Winelands, just to make sure that safety maintains.
“There’s also quite a bit of traffic going-up through the West Coast to Langebaan, Saldanha and those areas, so we’ll make sure those routes are well manned with both emergency care providers and ambulances.”
Motorcycles and 4x4 rescue vehicles will be used to provide lifesaving medications in areas with difficult terrain or heavy congestion.
Air medical service, such as Air Mercy Service, was also crucial during this period, with helicopters able to transport critical patients over long distances as quickly as possible.
Wylie said the Drone Unit deploys drones to detect injured persons along mountains and wilderness areas.
The drones are equipped with night vision and heat sensors able to detect people and reach them much faster.
Just recently, a drone was able to guide someone down the mountain and required no additional human resources to be deployed.
Parbhoo said apart from drownings, near drownings and pedestrian accidents, incidents affecting children were sometimes preventable if children were supervised.
Wenger urged the public to keep emergency contacts at hand at all times.
She also thanked healthcare workers who will be working during the festive period.
“We are truly grateful for their commitment and under difficult circumstances and immense pressure,” she said.