Tuesday, July 26, 2011

** South African health minister urges community to help protect paramedics

** Australian medic severely injured after timber goes through windshield

SOUTH AFRICA NEWS

** Kwa-Zulu Natal’s minister of health is on a campaign to get the public active in protecting ambulance attendants. That is the word from a government press release (July 21) which said Sibongiseni Dhlomo is making the move after being prompted by a vicious April that saw medics hijacked, assaulted, and threatened. According to the press release, two paramedics were killed in the first half of the year, with one of them being shot during a patient transport, while the other was stabbed. Dhlomo said protecting EMS responders will not only aid in improving emergency care, but will help in bettering the health care system as a whole.

AUSTRALIA NEWS

** Queensland police are investigating a bizarre Thursday accident in which a piece of lumber penetrated an ambulance windshield, severely wounding a paramedic. The AAP (July 21) said the incident, which occurred on the Fraser Coast, took place around 6 a.m. According to the news service, the wood fell from another vehicle while the two cars were on the highway. Although specific injuries to the medic were not detailed, a spokesman for the service called them significant. The ambulance was not loaded at the time.