For the past few years, local residents have practically given up on reaching out to Siloam Hospital's emergency medical services (EMS) because they knew that the hospital had only four functional ambulances serving more than 100 villages in the Makhado and Thulamela municipalities. However, the hopes of the communities were revived on Monday, 11 September, when the MEC for Health in Limpopo, Dr Phophi Ramathuba, handed over 35 new ambulances to Siloam Hospital.
Ramathuba said the handover was part of the countdown towards 500 new ambulances that she had announced during the 2023/2024 budget speech. Last week, the MEC also delivered 35 new ambulances to Nkhensani Hospital's EMS in Giyani.
Ramathuba mentioned that other districts were still in line to receive new ambulances and would be catered for in the upcoming batches. "Ambulance services are vital in providing prompt medical care to patients, ensuring they receive immediate attention and care, providing first aid, stabilising the patient's condition, and preventing the condition from worsening. We will continue allocating new ambulances to our emergency medical services to improve their ability to come to the aid of people in emergency situations."
Ramathuba emphasised that the new ambulances were very sophisticated. "These are not just any ambulances; they are like walk-in hospitals. They are no different from being in a ward with an intensive care unit. I want every available crew consisting of two people to have their own ambulance," she said.
The MEC made an urgent call to community members to respect and take care of the vehicles.
Mr Solomon Mohale, manager of the Vhembe District's EMS, expressed their excitement about receiving the new fleet. "We were serving 136 rural villages with only four ambulances, and it was a struggle to attend to all the callouts. We also faced difficulties reaching some of the villages due to the poor condition of the roads. Gravel roads contribute significantly to the damage of ambulances," he said.