** South African medics in Port Elizabeth plead with public to stop attacking them
SOUTH AFRICA NEWS
** Amidst the rise in attacks on ambulance medics, a group of Eastern Cape practitioners has taken to directly appealing to the public to stop such assaults. That is the word from The Citizen (October 7) which said some providers drove through Port Elizabeth last Thursday and Friday sporting cardboard signs in ambulance windows pleading for the violence to stop. According to the newspaper, the attacks have been occurring both on the streets and in patient homes while treatment is going on. A spokesman for the medics said they would no longer attend house calls unless accompanied by police. A police spokesman, meanwhile, said the escorts undermine the ability of police to attend to their core functions. Motherwell Cluster Commander Major General Dawie Rabie said the violence would only cease when citizens start taking a stand against attacks on emergency medical personnel.
