Responding adequately to any emergency situations particularly road crash scenes can make a difference between life and death and it is important that all stakeholders respond adequately and everybody is also well acquainted with protocols and roles each need to play, this according John Erasmus, Assistant Director for Safety Engineering in the Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison.
Erasmus was speaking during the workshop for stakeholders on road incident management that was held on N4 Toll Road near Tenbosch towards Komatipoort yesterday (30 January 2018). The workshop commenced with the staging of a crash (crash simulation), whereby various stakeholders responded as if they were attending the actual crash scene.
Yesterday’s workshop was attended by stakeholders who include Department of Transport, Department of Health, SAPS, Road Traffic Management Corporation (RTMC), Nkomazi Local Municipality, TRAC N4 and emergency personnel from Mozambique.
According to Erasmus, the workshop further enhanced participants’ awareness of various protocols each needed to observe from incident detection, mobilizing of response of other required services, situational analysis, scene management and recovery and rehabilitation stages.
Erasmus also indicated that Mozambique emergency practitioners were critical stakeholders because many South Africans frequently visit Mozambique and it was important that there was a common way of responding properly to crashes even in both countries.
“We need to approach crash scenes in a uniformed manner to eliminate unnecessary loss of lives due to inadequacy in how emergency situations are sometimes responded to. Proper management also contributes to reduction of secondary incidents and severity of injuries,” Erasmus emphasized.
He explained that the workshop was critical in order to avoid confusion and ambiguity that often compromises those who have been severely affected by the crashes. After the crash simulation the stakeholders met for a debriefing where they identified other areas where they believe they needed to improve.
Delegates from Mozambique who did not want to be named welcomed the exercise saying they will implement what they have learned from their South African counterparts in their own country so that they can improve. They however added that they will appeal to their authorities to allocate more resources to emergency personnel in order to respond adequately to road crash scenes.
Erasmus further indicated that workshops of this nature will be held throughout the country and their Mozambiqean counterparts will further be trained by Road Incidence Management System (RIMS) from National Department of Transport. They will also stage a simulation workshop to display what they would have learnt later this year.
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Issued by Mpumalanga Department of Community Safety, Security and Liaison
Enquiries: Moeti Mmusi
Contacts:
Tel: 013 766 1577
Cell: 084 411 3372
Email: mmmusi@mpg.gov.za