It is believed that the twenty year old man lost control of his car and slammed into a tree on Birmingham Road in Panorama Gardens.

ER24 paramedics were told by bystanders that it seemed that the man had lost control of his vehicle, and he first swerved his car towards his right hand side. He then appeared to try an correct the vehicle when he suddenly swerved hard to his left. His car then slammed into a tree on the passenger side with such force that his car was partially wrapped around the tree.

The man was severely entrapped in the car, and paramedics had to try and stabilise him while Fire and Rescue workers spent half and hour cutting away at the metal. He was in a very critical condition and paramedics had to place him on manual ventilation while he was still upright in the driver’s seat.

When he was eventually freed, as he was being safely pulled from the vehicle, his heart suddenly stopped beating. Paramedics immediately initiated CPR, and after ten minutes his heart started beating again.

He was loaded into an ambulance and transported to a nearby hospital where he was handed over to the awaiting staff in a critical condition.

There were no other cars involved in the accident, and the necessary authorities were on the scene.

Vanessa Jackson
ER24

Nine workers from a shopping centre in Hillcrest have been treated for possible smoke inhalation after a small fire broke out inside a deli this morning.

ER24 paramedics rushed to the scene and were directed to the location of where the fire had broken out. The local Fire Department was on scene and had already extinguished the flames and was assessing the damage.

Nine workers from the shop were escorted out side to the waiting ambulances to be treated. One patient was treated for minor burns to his arm, while the remaining eight patients were treated for smoke inhalation. All patients were in a stable condition and were transported by ER24 to Life Entabeni Hospital for further medical care.

It is unclear what caused the fire but no serious damage was done.

Derrick Banks
ER24

When ER24 paramedics arrived at the scene the worker was still entrapped in the ground and was buried in soil up to his shoulders. Metro rescue promptly dispatched their Rescue seven vehicle which is their specialized structural collapse unit.ER24 also dispatched the ER24 Discovery Medicopter to the scene.

Paramedics and rescue workers then carefully extracted the worker as to not cause any further engulfment from the side walls of the trench. The rescue took just over an hour to complete and crowds applauded the efforts of the Emergency Medical personnel as the worker was hoisted from the trench.

Once the worker was placed on the parking lot of the hospital, paramedics where able to asses the patient completely. The worker had allegedly sustained significant injuries to his lower extremities and was taken to hospital per ambulance.

Andre Visser

ER24

A forty eight year street vender has been shot at the corners of Victoria and Dr Yusuf Da Doo ( Grey Street ) in the busy Durban CBD area this afternoon.

ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene to find the patient lying on the pavement in a pool of blood and unresponsive. Paramedics assessed the patient had found that he had sustained multiple gunshot wounds to his body. CPR and advanced life support intervention was started but unfortunately all the effects of the paramedics trying to save him, the patient died on the scene due to his fatal injuries.

It is unclear why the man was shot but a suspect has been detained by police for further questioning.

Derrick Banks
ER24

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• Firearms, Accidents and Road Safety

A British tourist’s last night in Cape Town ended in tragedy when he fell to his death walking up the stairs to his lodgings.

Neil Anthony Woodcock and friends had returned from a celebration at a nearby restaurant to a double-storey Gordon’s Bay house at about 11pm on Tuesday when he apparently lost his balance and fell 3.5 metres.

“Our advanced life support paramedics tried for nearly an hour to resuscitate him, but unfortunately he died on the scene due to serious head injuries,” Netcare 911 spokeswoman Lauren Copley said.

She said the cause of death was unclear. All they knew was that he had walked up the stairs one moment, and the next, he fell and died.

Woodcock was due to return to Britain yesterday.

Police spokesman Gert van der Merwe said his friends reported he had been drinking, but didn’t say how much, adding: “They also said that he had had heart problems.”

In a separate incident, a 70-year-old man died from a suspected heart attack during a workout at a popular Durbanville gym.

Johannes Bezuidenhout was running on the treadmill around 7.30am when he passed out and fell to the ground. He later died. Copley said paramedics had spent more than an hour attempting to resuscitate him.

Gym manager Os van Heerden said Bezuidenhout had been a regular at the facility. The incident, which took place just after 7.30am, had forced management to close the gym.

He said that, when Bezuidenhout collapsed, staff ran to his assistance.

“We did the best we could to help him until the paramedics arrived, but?”

Professor Mike Lambert from the Sports Science Institute said it was highly likely Bezuidenhout had had an underlying medical condition.

Although there are added risks for elderly people who exercise, the advantages of exercising far outweigh the negatives, he said.

However, someone who never exercised needed to consult a doctor before engaging in strenuous exercise.

“Walking and stretching is the best combination. These people need to be checked (by a doctor) and start exercising gradually. Don’t overdo it,” Lambert said.

* This article by Michelle Pietersen was originally published on page 3 of The Cape Times on September 02, 2010

Drowning – how do we decrease the risk for our children in South Africa?

It is fast becoming one of those topics where someone you know, or someone in your group of friends or family, knows of an incident of accidental drowning occurring amongst them.

It is suspected that during the summer months, the risk of accidental drowning in South Africa increases, but this almost solely applies to residential areas where pools are installed and made use of during this time. For most part, and including the larger part of the country, there are a number of people residing on river banks, or close to large bodies of water all year round. These people are thus also affected by weather conditions and the need to use the water on a daily basis.

Education plays a vital role in ensuring that people are aware of the risks involved when in close vicinity of these bodies of water, and how to assist were an incident to occur. For those of us who have the time and the means, it may be useful to complete a first aid course, where First Aid Level 1 is a two day course covering the basics in first aid, including CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation), choking, impaled object management, fracture management and bleeding control.

One may also complete a short 3 hour CPR course, which teaches on how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on adults, children and infants. Although extremely important, we cannot exclusively focus on educating those people who have pools in their back yards relating to the dangers of accidental drowning, we need to make an exerted effort to also educate those who collect their water from reservoirs or dams, wash up in rivers, and have general large amounts of water around their areas of residence.

With regards to pools, we are all aware of the necessary safety measures that need to be in place to protect our children and loved ones from accidental drowning. If you type the words ‘Pool Safety’ into GoogleTM , pages upon pages of tips for securing pools are available, which is definitely encouraging, but type in ‘River safety’, and the pages will encourage those who canoe, do extreme white water rafting, and river guides to be cautious while performing their activities.

One of the pages found, www.ekurhuleni.com, displays some sound advice for those who may find themselves in danger when in a river:

* River currents are often stronger than they appear. You can throw a twig in to check how fast the river is flowing.
* If you are caught in a current, float on your back and travel downstream feet first to protect your head. Angle towards the shore.
* Remember that river conditions can change rapidly and without warning due to heavy rains.
* Take care on river banks. They are often slippery and can even crumble away, resulting in someone accidentally falling into the water.
* A place that might usually be safe to cross will be lethal when there has been even a slight rainstorm somewhere along the river. Rather walk a little further to a safe crossing and live another day.

Also, it may be important to mention, for those of us who either collect large amounts of water for agricultural purposes, or purely for household use as it would be in many informal settlement, it is imperative that buckets, drums, and large vats of water be covered and inaccessible to children.

And to re-emphasise the importance of pool safety, here are some tips to prevent an accidental drowning in your pool:

* Direct, uninterrupted adult supervision is key when children are making use of the pool.
* Enclose the pool in a fence with a lockable gate or automatic latch mechanism.
* Cover the pool with a safety net or similar device.
* Pool alarms that signal when there is an unexplained splash in the pool are now readily available.
* Close and lock doors in the residence if they lead directly into the pool area.
* Swimming lessons for children may reduce panic in children if accidentally submerged in water.

Please carefully consider and remember that there is no substitute for direct adult supervision with regard to children and water safety. This may be the most important factor which may save your child from being another statistic in accidental drowning in South Africa.

Information from ER24

Alarms were sound again this morning when a second call out to Epping industria was received. EMS workers were surprised to hear that they would be responding to the same address where yesterday’s drama took place and again for a gas leak.

A number of workers started showing symptoms of eye irritation, headache, nausea and vomiting after noticing a smell of an unknown gas in the building. Panic erupted and emergency services were activated immediately to attend to the situation. The local fire department was called first and expecting the worst after yesterday, activated all other emergency systems.

When ER24 paramedics arrived at the scene they could see that it was an isolated case and not a mass evacuation like the previous day. After investigating the situation the paramedics found that the panic had started at a nearby packing facility and storeroom. A total of six workers were treated at the scene and taken to a nearby private hospital for gas inhalation.

With this being the second day of a unknown gas filling the building’s and sky at Epping industria, ER24 and the rest of the EMS community are ready for any possible repeat of yesterday and today’s incidents.

Andre Visser
ER24

September is Heart Awareness Month, which strives to educate the general public to become aware of the importance of a healthy heart. Not only is it important to attempt to lead a healthy lifestyle with respect to eating habits and exercise, but to also be aware of symptoms that indicate possible heart disease.

It cannot be stressed enough the need to have a regular cholesterol checkup, as cholesterol build up in the circulatory systems is one of the leading causes of heart failure and heart attacks. Checkups can be done at your local pharmacy and are inexpensive and not time consuming. Pharmacists will also discuss the results with you and give you advice with regards to how to go about lowering cholesterol levels.

Cholesterol, or fatty build up inside the arteries causes a narrowing, preventing the smooth flow of blood through the heart. This in turn causes a decrease in the deliverance of much needed oxygen to cells, causing them to slowly die off. When muscle cells in the heart die, the heart muscles pumping ability is decreased, and the blood supply to other important organs is inhibited, causing them to slowly shut down.

Risk factors for heart disease includes age, family history of heart disease, smoking, lack of exercise and diet, and as you can see, most of which can be controlled by you. It is also important to be aware of the symptoms of possible heart attacks. As Emergency Medical Service providers, we often come across heart attack victims who have been experiencing chest pain for some time, but they thought that it was not yet bad enough to warrant going to the hospital.

The following are guidelines with regards to detecting the early stages of a possible heart attack:
• Pressure/crushing feeling in the chest upon exertion accompanied with shortness of breath
• Sudden onset of dizziness, sweating and nausea
• Dull ache in the jaw, left arm and back
Sometimes heart attacks are atypical in a sense that the symptoms experienced are not those that are experienced by most, but if you suspect that you may indeed be suffering from a heart attack, and fall into the risk factors, do not hesitate to go through to a hospital for a checkup. It is better to find that nothing is wrong than have waited until it is too late.

Would you know what to do if you suspect that someone else is having a heart attack? Firstly, stay calm; if you are calm, it promotes the patient to remain calm. Call for an ambulance immediately, the rapid response from paramedics to provide life saving treatment is essential. If you know CRP the call taker at the ER24 contact center will talk you through the steps, or if you are interested in attending a CPR course, a one or two day course may mean the difference between life and death.

Preventative measures such as quitting or reducing cigarette smoking, managing high blood pressure and cholesterol, and regular exercise and healthy eating habits are important, but heart attacks may still occur, so make sure you and your family are familiar with the emergency numbers, and keep the 084 124 number handy in the unfortunate instance that a heart attack may occur.

Vanessa Jackson
ER24

Johannesburg emergency services temporarily restricted airspace and closed off the Golden Highway off-ramp on the N1 because of a gas leak at an ABI depot, an official said on Tuesday.

“We are currently at the ABI [Amalgamated Beverage Industries] depot next to the Golden Highway and the N1 off-ramp… there was digging on the premises when one of the gas pipes was damaged,” said Johannesburg emergency services spokesperson Nana Radebe.

“We are currently trying to suppress it with water.”

More than 25 fire-fighters were on the scene.

“For safety reasons, we closed off the off-ramp from the Golden Highway to the N1,” said Radebe.

“We have also informed aviation to hold off air traffic around this area.”

One woman complained of having difficulty breathing was taken to a private hospital.

“We have also put Chris Hani-Baragwanath hospital on high alert for any incidents related to people inhaling the gas,” said Radebe.

- SAPA

An elderly man has being injured after falling into an electric fence inside the property of the old age home where he is staying this afternoon in Pietermaritzburg.

ER24 paramedics and the provincial ambulance service arrived on the scene and found the man lying near the fence in a very confused stated. He had also suffered multiple lacerations and abrasions. Advanced Life Support intervention was performed on the patient. There was no obvious burn marks on the patient that paramedics could see. The patient was placed on a specialised board before being transported to Northdale Hospital in a serious but stable condition.

It is believed that the elderly man was doing his normal afternoon walk in the garden and was picking up avocados from the ground when he slipped and rolled down the embankment into the electric fence. While tumbling down the man sustained lacerations and abrasions to his body.

Derrick Banks
ER24