ER24 paramedics were kept busy this weekend as they had to attend to over 232 accidents across the country. Paramedics had to provide medical assistance at over 197 motor vehicle accidents, 11 motorbike accidents and 24 pedestrian accidents.
An accident on the N12 highway at the Atlas turn off in Benoni left two people dead and six other with critical injuries on Saturday evening. Two girls aged six and ten years were amongst the critically injured. A man and women died on the scene. Paramedics described that they sustained multiple fatal injuries and could not be revived. A Medicopter was called to scene to airlift two of the critically injured patients. The exact cause of the accident is not yet known, but it is understood that two vehicles collided head on with each other. Some of the occupants were ejected from their vehicles during the crash.
In another accident eight people were injured on Kliprivier Drive in Mulbarton, south of Johannesburg. Paramedics from ER24 that arrived on the scene found it in chaos. It is believed that two vehicles collided with each other on Kliprivier Drive. Paramedics treated all of the occupants on the scene before transporting them to hospital.
On Sunday a woman was killed in a head on collision on the R560 Hekpoort Road near Brits when two vehicles collided. ER24 paramedics that arrived on the scene found the two vehicles some metres from each other. A woman believed to be in her forties was found lying across the seats in her vehicle. She sustained severe traumatic injuries and there was nothing that paramedics could do for her. She was declared dead on the scene. Two people from the other vehicle was stabilised on the scene and transported by ambulance to a hospital in Krugersdorp.
Another accident on Sunday left multiple people injured on the N2 and Mew Way in Cape Town. ER24 along with the Department of Health: Western Cape Emergency Medical Services and Metro Rescue stabilised all of the patients on the scene. A man and a woman were in a critical condition when paramedics arrived. The ER24 Medicopter was called to the scene to airlift the man to the Groote Schuur Hospital for further medical management. The man sustained multiple chest injuries during the collision. It is not clear what caused the accident.
Werner Vermaak, ER24
