286 Gauteng ambulance accidents in three years
Gauteng Provincial Government ambulances were involved in an astounding 286 accidents from 2011 to July this year.
According to DA Gauteng Shadow MEC for Health, Jack Bloom, the vast majority of these (254 or 89 per cent) were major rather than minor accidents.
These figures are revealed in a written reply by Gauteng Health MEC Qedani Mahlangu to Bloom’s questions in the Gauteng Legislature.
The breakdown per year is as follows:
* 2011: 98 accidents.
* 2012: 80 accidents.
* 2013: 97 accidents.
* January to July 2014: 11 accidents.
The above accidents have led to 95 disciplinary actions against negligent drivers.
“It seems that this has contributed to a decrease in ambulance accidents so far this year, which is good news that I hope continues,” says Bloom.
According to Mahlangu, the department is still verifying the cost of ambulance repairs, but it is likely to be a high figure.
“This province has only 428 emergency ambulances, many of which are off the road, because they are being repaired in workshops,” says Bloom.
“The ambulance shortage is a major reason for poor emergency response times. There is a more than one in two chance that an ambulance will have a serious accident over its driving lifetime.
“Advanced driver training is essential to ensure that ambulances avoid accidents and are available to pick up emergency patients,” says Bloom.
The Boksburg Advertiser contacted Bloom in an attempt to find out how many of these accidents occurred in Ekurhuleni. The response is outstanding. – @IschkeBoksburg
