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Please be patient, one emergency number is on the cards

For the people... One of the fleet of ambulances arrives late after a mother gave birth on a pavement.

Nie Cele

The decision to have one national emergency number is still in the air.

In 2008 the Department of Communication announced that government planned to introduce a single emergency number to fast-track access to emergency services.

At the time the government news service Buanews reported that there were currently 350 centres handling emergency services in the country. These were set up by different organisations, each with a different number.

Department of Communication spokesman Tiyani Rikhotso said, “Everything is in place but the Treasury still has to approve the budget to roll out the process.”

But residents remained unhappy with the response time of Johannesburg ambulance services despite a steadfast assurance from Emergency Services spokesman Percy Morokane that the response time was between between nine and 12 minutes.

Recently, in front of this reporter, a Soweto resident gave birth on a street pavement while it took well over an hour for an ambulance to arrive. Pressed about this incident Morokane pointed out that there was one solution to the problem.

“Time is wasted when emergency calls are diverted and operators attempt to reach the relevant services.

“One emergency number will ensure that the response time is quick.’’

citybeat@caxton.co.za

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