KZN turns to high tech to save lives

As thousands of people head for home‚ go on pilgrimage‚ visit family or travel in the heavy Easter weekend traffic to get away from it all‚ authorities have taken measures to reduce fatalities on the roads.

In KwaZulu-Natal‚ two helicopters have been reconfigured to undertake night operations‚ the MEC for health‚ Sibongiseni Dhlomo said on Friday.

The equipment‚ including night vision goggles‚ is usually used in military operations‚ but now it’s being used to save people’s lives.

“Chances of survival are increased if the accident victim gets assistance timeously‚” said Dhlomo.

He said the province is ready to reach out to people in distress and in emergency situations anytime and anywhere.

“Beside these helicopters‚ we have also deployed our emergency medical teams to all the accident prone areas like Amajuba Pass‚ Ndundulu and Kokstad. The rationale here is to provide assistance within that ‘golden hour’ the accident has happened.”

The province has also deployed its rescue vehicles that are fitted with high-tech equipment to free people trapped in vehicles. It has ambulance buses that are used when many people have been injured. These can take 35 patients‚ which is more efficient than dispatching six or more ambulances to the accident.

And many KZN Emergency Medical Rescue staff has give up their long weekend to be of service to travellers. Dhlomo thanked them for this.

The Road Traffic Management Corporation told EWN: “If we do the comparisons between the weeks before Easter last year and this week‚ we think that it’s been a very encouraging start. The same period last year‚ we had 121 deaths and this year we have 45‚ so that’s a 62 percent decline.”