The Advanced Life Support paramedic who is on duty for the Johannesburg Northern Regions was driving near the intersection of Main and Bruton in Bryanston this morning when he was approached by a man, asking whether he would be able to treat a patient that had been stabbed.

The paramedic immediately got the correct information and made his way with the man to where his friend was found walking along the road a short distance away. The ambulance had already been dispatched to the incident.

The man’s friend said that there had been some sort of altercation between two parties the night before and the disgruntled people from the other party had then allegedly assaulted the patient some time this morning. They were not sure of what to do, so they walked around looking for help, fortunately coming across the ER24 paramedic.

The man, in his early 30′s, had a wound on his back, and although he was in a stable condition at this time, would need thorough examination at a medical facility to determine the damage to his organs on the inside. He was taken per ambulance to the Charlotte Maxeke Hospital in Johannesburg.

The Police would be informed of the incident to conduct their necessary investigations into the incident.

Vanessa Jackson, ER24

The number of rhino poached in South Africa has reached a record high, the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said on Thursday.

“Statistics from SA National Parks show that 341 animals have been lost to poaching so far in 2011, compared to a record total of 333 last year,” the fund said in a statement.

Three of the five rhino species globally were critically endangered.

The last reported poaching took place in the Free State on October 24.

The carcasses of an adult pregnant cow and another younger cow were found at the Sandveld nature reserve, near Bloemhof.

Extinct in Vietnam

This was followed by a WWF announcement in the same week that rhino in Vietnam have gone extinct.

“The carcass of Vietnam’s last Javan rhino was found with a gunshot wound and without its horn.”

There were now fewer than 50 Javan rhinos left globally, all held in one national park in Indonesia.

In an effort to increase South African numbers, 19 black rhino were successfully moved from the Eastern Cape to Limpopo on Wednesday as part of the WWF black rhino range expansion project.

The weeklong transfer was completed on Wednesday. This was the seventh black rhino population established in the country by the WWF.

Close to 120 black rhino have been relocated to date.

“This was possible because of the far-sightedness of the Eastern Cape provincial government who were prepared to become partners in the project for the sake of black rhino conservation in South Africa,” the WWF’s project leader Jacques Flamand said in a statement.

Rumours have sealed their fate

During a meeting of the convention on international trade in endangered species (Cites) last year, the international community concluded that the increase in poaching was caused largely by demand for horn products in Vietnam.

“The unfounded rumour that rhino horn can cure cancer most likely sealed the fate of the last Javan rhino in Vietnam,” said WWF’s Asian rhino expert Dr A Christy Williams.

“This same problem is now threatening other rhino populations across Africa and South Asia.”

South Africa has been the focal point of poaching because it has the largest population of rhino in the world, the WWF said.

“Since armed protection for rhino in South African national parks is strong, poaching syndicates are likely to shift to countries with weaker enforcement power, including possibly Asian countries that may be caught off guard,” said global species programme director at WWF Carlos Drews.

Legal loopholes

Despite this, legal loopholes which allowed the export of rhino hunting trophies were being exploited.

In an attempt to restrict the trophy hunting, Environmental Affairs Minister Edna Molewa proposed amendments to the norms and standards governing the practice.

Molewa submitted the suggested amendments for public comment on September 30.

These covered the norms and standards for marking rhino horn and trophy hunting of white rhino, the department said in a statement early in October.

“The proposed amendments are intended to address the abuse of the permit system,” said spokesperson Albi Modise.

“Although illegal hunting is the main threat that could impact on the survival of rhinoceros in the wild in the near future, stricter provisions relating to hunting [are] required.”

In September, a delegation of Vietnamese officials visited South Africa to discuss enhancing law enforcement co-operation between the two countries.

“Vietnam should follow South Africa’s example and start sending poachers, traders, smugglers and sellers to jail,” WWF’s African rhino programme co-ordinator Joseph Okori said.

“In order to save rhino from extinction, the criminal syndicates operating between South Africa and Vietnam must be uncovered and shut down for good.”

- SAPA

Also view:

Shooting rhinos should only be done with a camera!!

Two white rhino were illegally shot and their horns removed in a Free State reserve, provincial environmental spokesperson Kgotso Tau said on Wednesday.

The carcasses of an adult pregnant cow and another younger cow were found at the Sandveld nature reserve near Bloemhof on Monday morning.

Tau said it seemed the rhino were killed on Sunday night.

Various tracks were found in the vicinity and it was suspected that the poachers were in the reserve on foot.

“We were lucky that poachers had not been active in the province until now,” said Tau.

He said rhino guards were deployed in all Free State reserves.

The incident was the second rhino poaching incident in the Free State this year.

Another adult rhino cow was illegally shot at the Willem Pretorius reserve near Ventersburg in February this year.

A total of 309 rhino had been poached in South Africa this year, the national department of environmental affairs said.

- SAPA

Also view:

Shooting rhinos should only be done with a camera

The motive around the alleged robbery will be investigated by the local police for further investigation but when ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene, they found the man being treated by the local Provincial paramedics. The patient had luckily sustained only a flesh wound to his head and was in a stable condition. We believe that he had sustained the wound on his head after shots were fired by the fleeing suspects. He was transported to a nearby hospital in a very stable condition for further medical care.

It is believed that the man was walking from factory to factory in the area looking for work. He was unfortunate to have walked to the factory that was being held up at the time but is extremely lucky that he is still alive to tell the story.

Derrick Banks, ER24

The man was found lying in the grass outside of the house with his two friend standing over him with growing concern at his condition. The local police escorted the paramedics to where they found the man with what appeared to be more than 20 wounds across the entire surface of his body.

Being awake, the man was in a great deal of pain and he was losing a lot of blood. Paramedics quickly started stabilising the injured man and attending to his multiple wounds. His friends assisted the paramedics where they could, holding equipment and passing them their necessary tools.

To speed up the time of the man’s transport to hospital, a Medicopter was called in which met the ambulance crew at the Meyerton Fire Station and he was airlifted to the Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital in Johannesburg. His injuries were extremely critical and the trauma team at the hospital were awaiting his arrival.

The police will investigate the exact details of the incident.

Vanessa Jackson, ER24

The suspected thief, a man in his 30′s, is then believed to have run across the N3 to get away when an Opel Corsa was driving along that exact stretch of highway. The pedestrian was knocked approximately 10 meters and sustained extensive injuries. As ER24 paramedics arrived at the scene, they immediately assessed the man’s injuries but there was nothing more that could be done for him and he had already died at the scenedue to the severity of injuries that he had sustained.

The Corsa came to rest in the center median of the highway and the driver, a 47 year old man, had suffered what appeared to be serious injuries. He was treated on scene before being taken to Addington Hospital for further treatment.

Vanessa Jackson, ER24

A new born baby was found on a trail alongside a railway line in Hillcrest near Stonewall Road this morning.

Two gentlemen walking along the trail found a packet in the middle of the path and noticed the new born. They quickly alerted the police, who notified ER24 and VEMA. Paramedics had to walk about two hundred meters before they reached the new born. Under closer investigation they found a baby boy inside a plastic packet. The new born could have not been a few hours old. Unfortunately the little boy had already passed away from possible hypothermia and blood loss.

SAPS from Hillcrest will be investigating the incident further.

Derrick Banks, ER24

A startling discovery was made this evening when a newly born baby was found wrapped in a plastic packet on a pile of rubbish in Boom road, Pietermaritzburg.

A group of children were playing a few meters away from the rubbish dump when they noticed weeping sounds coming from the rubbish. Upon investigating the origins of the cries they found the approximately 1 week old baby boy wrapped in a plastic bag with formula food and pack of disposable diapers.

Startled at the discovery the children ran across the road to a day care where they informed a lady of the baby. When ER24 paramedics arrived at the scene they immediately attended to the infant. The baby had remarkably sustained no bodily harm, but was found to be extremely hungry.

The infant was then transported to the Northdale hospital for further medical care. Local law enforcement authorities who also attended the scene will be investigating the incident further.

Andre Visser, ER24

An intern doctor and his girlfriend are both in a serious condition after been shot outside a residence in the Morningside area Saturday afternoon.

ER24 paramedics from Durban rushed to the scene and found both patients lying on a drive way outside a house. The two patients who were both in a serious condition were been treated by their fellow friends and helped assist the paramedics in treating them further.

The one patient had sustained what looked like a gunshot wound to the stomach region, while the other patient had sustained also what looked like multiple gunshot wounds to the leg. Both patients needed advanced life support intervention and further stabilisation before they were transported to a nearby hospital in a serious condition, where trauma staff was waiting to take over the medical care.

The circumstances or the motive around the alleged shooting is unclear but the local authorities will investigate the incident further.

Derrick Banks, ER24

A teenager and a domestic worker are both in a serious condition after allegedly being assaulted at a residence in Howick this afternoon. Just after twelve o’clock this afternoon ER24 paramedics rushed out to a call at a residence in the Howick West area where two people had allegedly been assaulted.

When they arrived on the scene, they were directed by the Howick SAPS and members of the family to were the patients were found. The domestic worker had sustained a head injury during the assault and needed specialised equipment to help protect her from any further injury.

The teenager was assessed by the paramedics and found that he had sustained a possible gunshot wound to the leg. He was stabilised by means of advanced life support intervention. Both were transported to hospital in a serious but stable condition for further medical care. The motive around the assault is yet unclear but the local SAPS from Howick will be investigating the incident further.

Derrick Banks, ER24