12 Nov 2013

An Emergency Medical Service  (EMS) will soon be established in Palapye to give emergency assistance to patients involved in accidents along the Gaborone/Francistown road.

Briefing special sub-district development committee meeting on Noember 11, the coordinator of the Palapye District Health Management Team (DHMT), Dr Ntombizodwa Bala, said the emergency medical service team was in the process of identifying a location to operate from.

The plan was to start providing the service before end of the year, especially for victims of road accidents. “The EMS is meant for any emergency but in our situation most emergencies are patients involved in road accidents,” she said. Dr Bala said the Gaborone/Francistown road was mostly busy on weekends and public holidays when a high number of accidents occurred.

As a result, the Ministry of Health decided to introduce the emergency medical service. She said EMS was different from the hospital because it encompassed staff from various agencies such as MRI, police, fire, Red Cross and medical officers.

Other members of EMS are representatives of the Botswana Power Corporation, Botswana Telecommunications Corporation, Mascom, Orange, the district commissioner’s office, dikgosi and the council.

She said EMS started in Gaborone and Francistown and had brought about positive results as such a senior nurse and a senior medical officer from Palapye DHMT have been sent to Francistown to bench mark.

She said EMS was good because patients involved in road accidents would be treated at the scene before referred to the hospital. She however, said the emergency medical service team would need intensive training to learn to handle patients involved in accidents. Some patients die or become paralysed as a result of poor handling skills on the way to the hospital.

She added that administering first aid to patients involved in road accident needed special training so that injuries were minimised. Dr Bala said EMS was welcome because Palapye Primary Hospital was not well resourced. The hospital has two ambulances and was therefore unable to cope with the number of accidents.

When none of the two ambulances is available, the hospital uses ordinary vehicle to take patients to other hospitals. Ms Veronica Rabakane, the deputy district commissioner, gave the initiative a green light, and described it as a move in the right direction.

The Assistant Council Secretary, Mr Goloswang Ramogala said the Botswana Police Service and the Red Cross should have ambulances so that they could help in times of need. Ends