** Ohio EMT, patient dead after Saturday crash
** South African stabbing patient dies after beach goers force paramedics to withdraw
UNITED STATES NEWS
** An Ohio EMT is dead after the ambulance he was riding in overturned during a crash near Cambridge Saturday. That is the word from NBC4 (December 17) which said the 2 a.m. incident saw the driver of the EMS unit lose control of the wheel, forcing the vehicle off the road and into a roll. The EMT has been identified as Charles McMahan, 39, of New Maramoras. Patient Dennis Calvert, 64, from Wheeling, West Virginia also perished in the crash. Three other prehospital responders sustained minor injuries. Police say weather was a factor in the mishap.
SOUTH AFRICA NEWS
** A Sunday incident at a beach in Durban resulted in a stabbing patient dying after a mob threatened medics, preventing them from rendering life saving treatment. The Citizen (Sboniso Dlamini/December 19) quoted EMS Director Dylan Merick as saying the situation was volatile enough that medics were forced to leave the patient lying on the sand. According to the newspaper, Blythedale Beach where the call took place was overcrowded with some 3,000 drunken and partying people at the time. Along with the menacing behaviour of the locals, Merick said gridlocked roads also prevented practitioners from rendering care. Police spokesman Johannes Khoza said the area is a well known problem spot. Khoza said police are continuing to investigate the matter.
