Times Of Swaziland: EMS CRISIS: AMBULANCES GROUNDED AT MALAGWANE BASE

EMS CRISIS: AMBULANCES GROUNDED AT MALAGWANE BASE
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Stanley Khumalo on 31/01/2022 10:27:00


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.