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EMS CRISIS: AMBULANCES GROUNDED AT MALAGWANE BASE

31/01/2022 10:27:00 Stanley Khumalo

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MANZINI – Members of the public seeking emergency care from government should forget about being assisted by the Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

This is because vehicles allocated to the Emergency Preparedness Response (EPR), which is also known as EMS, have been daily depreciating at the Malagwane base of the department.
The EMS, which is popularly known with its toll free number – 977, has been marred with transport issues for a lengthy period. The new challenge has seen vehicles assigned to this department being grounded as they lack basic mechanical attention, which ranges from changing old tyres to installation of new brake pads.

According to impeccable sources within the department, most of the vehicles that ought to render emergency services to the public were grounded. This concern, according to the sources, was raised with the Ministry of Health but nothing has changed. In fact, the sources claimed that about seven vehicles were grounded at the Malagwane Base, with some having not been functional in a period exceeding two years. The sources claimed that as the vehicles were being exposed to all sorts of weather conditions, they were day by day depreciating, despite that some needed minimal attention.

It was gathered that some of the vehicles needed basic attention like replacing wheels; however, this was not being done. In the process, sources claimed that the public tended to be deprived of services. “It always comes across as if we don’t want to work when we say there are no vehicles to the public; yet it is the basic truth,” said a source. The sources claimed that the poor maintenance of the vehicles by the ministry resulted in other service stations under EMS having faulty vehicles. The bases that were highlighted as having one vehicle apiece, which at most instances faced a downtime (broken down) are: Malkerns, Siphofaneni, Ezulwini and Siteki. It was gathered that the capital city, which ought to have two vehicles servicing the population, had one functional vehicle as the other was recently involved in an accident. At Malagwane, the only functional car is the one donated by the Sincephetelo Motor Vehicle Accidents Fund (SMVAF), while in Malkerns, the automobile assigned to the EMS department had no brakes and tyres.

Lengthy

In Ezulwini, it was gathered that there had been no vehicle available for a lengthy period. In Manzini, the vehicle for this department was said to be faulty as it had no brakes and was not serviced, while at Siphofaneni, it was grounded. It was gathered that the Pigg’s Peak EMS vehicle was still functional and it was the same in Nhlangano. Despite having one functional vehicle in Nhlangano, it was said one had broken down as they ought to be two. In Siteki, the vehicle assigned to EMS recently had a tyre burst and overturned. At Matata, it was gathered that one vehicle was functional; but staff frequently made donations to patch damaged tyres as they were old, while at Mshinande, in the Hhohho Region, the only vehicle available was donated by SMVAF.

The Director of Health Services, Dr Vusi Magagula, confirmed that the ministry was facing challenges with vehicles. He said the challenge was that most of the vehicles had broken down as the budget for the ministry to deal with the Central Transport Administration (CTA) charges was not improved following the advent of COVID-19. This, Dr Magagula said, resulted in the ministry exhausting its budget within a short period as it was dealing with a national emergency. “We had COVID-19 and we were dealing with it 24/7 and when it subsided, the cars had been worn out such that we had to start with mechanical challenges,” he said. He also acknowledged that some of the challenges were caused by the late issuance of a tender to supply car batteries and tyres at the CTA. He said while the resources were available, the tender had not been awarded and by the time it was awarded, the quoted prices had escalated. At the moment, he said a claim was filed to have the cars attended to and they were waiting for quotations. He was not certain of the money needed but said it was within the range of E1 million.