Durban — The Sikhosana family in uMlazi are demanding justice after their ill sister was abandoned by an ambulance. The family has called for the paramedics involved to be fired.
This comes after Thembeka Sikhosana from uMlazi, who was sick with a heart condition, was abandoned by the ambulance on Sunday.
It is alleged that paramedics refused to carry her to the ambulance because of a staircase and demanded that her relatives carry her. It further alleged that as the relatives were carrying her, the paramedics drove off, saying “they are too slow and they are wasting our time”.
Thembeka’s sister, Mbalenhle Sikhosana, said: “We want justice not just for only my sister, but for others as well who might end up losing their lives because of such paramedics who don’t care about their patients. They must be fired. What they did to my sister was very painful, and what if she had died?” she said.
Mbalenhle said the family called for an ambulance at about 7pm, and two hours later the paramedics called asking for directions. She said that 45 minutes later the paramedics called again, asking where the patient was.
“After receiving a call I went outside and told them she is inside the house, she is heavy, and we couldn’t lift her by ourselves because of the steps. And it was only me and my sister’s 12-year-old son. They then asked who we thought would carry my sister to the ambulance if we couldn’t. I then asked them, isn’t that part of a paramedic’s job?”
“They shouted at me, saying as paramedics they don’t do that and that if we can’t carry her to the ambulance they will drive back and leave her like that. I then asked neighbours to assist us to carry her. While we were carrying my sister to the ambulance, they said we were wasting their time and we were taking too long to get her to the ambulance. They then just drove off and said they are too busy to wait for us,” she said.
Mbalenhle also revealed that after taking photos of the ambulance and posting them on Facebook, some individuals came with a car saying they had seen a post on Facebook and were told to come and take her sister to the hospital. She also mentioned that her sister was born with a heart condition.
The KwaZulu-Natal Department of Health issued a statement on the matter, saying the two paramedics implicated in the matter had been placed under immediate precautionary suspension, so as to allow an investigation to proceed without hindrance.
In the statement, the department indicated that it was currently attending to the clinical needs of a patient who was allegedly abandoned by an ambulance in uMlazi to ensure she was getting the requisite level of care.
The department further encouraged the public to make use of its “Bika Sikusize” mobile app to report any acts of impropriety, so that they could be dealt with urgently.
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Daily News