News / Local
Bulawayo has only 7 ambulances
09 Apr 2014 at 13:37hrs | Views
The Bulawayo City Council has only seven ambulances instead of the required 25 to service the city with a population of close to one million people, The Zimbabwe Mail reported.
Staffers at the newspaper's Bulawayo bureau came face to face with the harsh reality of the fleet shortage Tuesday when a city woman, Sithembinkosi Hlabangana, collapsed in front of their offices and had to wait for an hour for ambulance service.
The incident occurred barely a week after Bulawayo city councillors were castigated by residents for proposing to award themselves hefty allowances at the expense of service delivery.
Hlabangana of Iminyela, wailed and writhed in agony after fracturing her leg while walking alone along Third Avenue.Some of her relatives said she was sickly, adding that it was a third time they were called after she had collapsed in town.
Blood oozed from her right ankle from where her leg bone seemed to have raptured the skin while this newspaper's staffers assisted her.
Nkosana Sibanda, a reporter, made the first call for an ambulance at 9:09am and followed up with another one some 10 minutes later, while bureau chief Dumisani Sibanda attended to the weeping woman. Brigdette Bugalo, another reporter, also made three other calls as staff took turns to look for assistance. A senior ambulance officer for Bulawayo Peter Dube blamed the delay on the shortage of ambulances saying there were only seven running ambulances when the ideal fleet would normally be 25.
"We only have seven ambulances to service 19 clinics in Bulawayo and at times we are overwhelmed when many accidents occur," said Dube.
Hlabangana's children said their mom left in the morning saying she was just nearby and they were surprised to hear she had collapsed in Bulawayo's central business district.
Staffers at the newspaper's Bulawayo bureau came face to face with the harsh reality of the fleet shortage Tuesday when a city woman, Sithembinkosi Hlabangana, collapsed in front of their offices and had to wait for an hour for ambulance service.
The incident occurred barely a week after Bulawayo city councillors were castigated by residents for proposing to award themselves hefty allowances at the expense of service delivery.
Hlabangana of Iminyela, wailed and writhed in agony after fracturing her leg while walking alone along Third Avenue.Some of her relatives said she was sickly, adding that it was a third time they were called after she had collapsed in town.
Nkosana Sibanda, a reporter, made the first call for an ambulance at 9:09am and followed up with another one some 10 minutes later, while bureau chief Dumisani Sibanda attended to the weeping woman. Brigdette Bugalo, another reporter, also made three other calls as staff took turns to look for assistance. A senior ambulance officer for Bulawayo Peter Dube blamed the delay on the shortage of ambulances saying there were only seven running ambulances when the ideal fleet would normally be 25.
"We only have seven ambulances to service 19 clinics in Bulawayo and at times we are overwhelmed when many accidents occur," said Dube.
Hlabangana's children said their mom left in the morning saying she was just nearby and they were surprised to hear she had collapsed in Bulawayo's central business district.
Source - Zim Mail
