Robbers have twice, in the past few months, ambushed a Gauteng Emergency Medical Services ambulance team and patients from Odi Base in Mabopane (Tshwane), stealing their phones and other personal belongings and making off with vital medical monitoring equipment.
In the first incident, reports IOL, two EMS personnel were robbed at gunpoint while responding to a case in Winterveld, and in the second case, a crew from the same base was robbed by armed attackers of their cellphones at the gate of Boekenhout Clinic as they were about to transport the patient.
Gauteng MEC for Health and Wellness Nomantu Nkomo-Ralehoko said the repeated attacks on health officials while in the line of duty were “totally unacceptable”. EMS crews would now only enter those areas if they were accompanied by law enforcement agencies or security personnel, she said.
While no one was injured in the attacks, the EMS crews were undergoing trauma counselling.
“The latest attacks brought to 14 the number of incidents in 2022 alone,” she said.
A number of areas across Gauteng have been declared hotspots or red zone, deemed unsafe for emergency personnel.
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