25 Nov 2021

Emergency Medical Services (EMS) is mobilising resources to set base in Jwaneng, Molepolole, Letlhakane and Gantsi. 

District Health Management Team (DHMT) regional coordinator south, Mr Conrad Ntsuape when briefing Jwaneng township councillors on Wednesday said such was a strategic move to improve response to emergencies. 

“The setting up of office in Jwaneng is a strategic move that will enable quick response to life threatening situations especially along the Trans-Kalahari Highway,” Mr Ntsuape said, adding that currently his office was bringing in resources such as ambulances and personnel as well as seeking accommodation for both office space and employees was on going. 

“Currently we only have an office in Lobatse, with nothing else for the rest of the stretch,” he said. 

Mr Ntsuape, however, cautioned that EMS only catered for sensitive health conditions such as road accidents, heart attacks, maternal and child emergencies. 

“Our mandate is to attend to life threatening health conditions and ensure safe transportation of patients to relevant facilities. 

We do not transport corpses, even those we find at the scenes of accidents. 

Once we have safely transferred patients to a health facility, it’s not our duty to take them home once they are discharged,” he said, probably in a move to clear any future dispute with the public on their role. 

Mr Ntsuape also said the setting up was in line with the announcement President Dr Mokgweetsi Masisi made during his last State of the Nation address, where he expressed the need to improve and spread emergency medical response across the country. 

“EMS is therefore an integral part of the national health system,” he said. 

Mr Ntsuape also pleaded with the council authorities to accommodate the office at the town council’s fire department station as they worked hand in hand. 

“Our experience indicates that if EMS is located in the same place as the fire department, it becomes easier for both entities to respond to the same call, therefore more efficiency” he said. 

He said they were wary of housing their ambulances and personnel at facilities such as clinics as such might lead to the resources being used for non-priority duties. 

Mr Ntsuape informed the councillors that they were expecting two ambulances for Jwaneng. 

He also said that servicing nearby villages that were accessed by gravel roads would only depend on the type of ambulances they were given. 

“If we are given off-road vehicles I do not see any reason why we should not assist those villages, but it will be difficult if we are given ambulances that cannot handle that terrain such as combis,” he said. 

The councillors welcomed the setting up of office, as they said that the Trans-Kalahari road was prone to road accidents due to a lot of cattle that roamed the road reserve. 

They were also in agreement that as a town, Jwaneng was deserving of such developments. ENDS