BCC engages private operators as ambulance crisis hits

THE Bulawayo City Council (BCC) has engaged the services of private operators to augment the shortage of ambulance vehicles at its emergency services department amid revelations that the city last got delivery of fire tenders in 1987.

Speaking to Sunday News on Wednesday, Bulawayo Chief Fire and Ambulance officer, Mr Lyson Phiri said the city was only operating with six ambulances out of a required minimum of 15.

He said the situation had forced council to engage Mars and St John ambulance service providers as municipal ambulances were unable to respond to distress calls within the internationally stipulated maximum of 10 minutes, a global standard that the municipality uses.

Mr Phiri said the fire fighting wing of the department was also in crisis with the last fire tenders having been purchased by the Government in 1987.

So far, the department has been relying on donated fire-fighting equipment, such as the recent donation from the Operation Flarion.

The city gets an average of 40 distress calls per day and has been unable to respond to them on time, with patients sometimes waiting for hours to get assistance.

"We are running a fleet of about six ambulances at any given time now, against a recommended minimum of about 15.

That means at any time, most of the times we have a backlog, but then we have roped in other providers such as Mars and St John to come and assist us.

That partnership is very critical," he said.

Mr Phiri said although council had started to rope in private players, residents preferred council ambulances which were much cheaper compared to private ones and said the situation was still difficult.

"There's a difference here. Mars Ambulance, people do not prefer it, they prefer our ambulance which is much cheaper than private service providers.

That's why there so much pressure on our side. We are charging about US$11 or the equivalent in Zimbabwean dollars," he said.

Mr Phiri said council was looking forward to receiving a consignment of fire tenders from Belarus, and said it would help with service provision as the city's fleet was old and performed poorly due to the city's poor road network.

"These fire tenders were purchased by the Government. The last fire tenders were purchased in 1987.

We had a promise lately that there were fire tenders that were procured from Belarus, but we are still waiting for those. Once we get new fire tenders, our response will be good.

These fire tenders that we have at the moment are donated vehicles, which means that they are old. Taking into account the road network we have here, it is so bad, this is why sometimes we take a bit long to reach the fire scenes," he said.

Mr Phiri said council would establish new stations in Cowdray Park and Waterford suburbs which were further from the CBD in order to improve on the time taken to respond to distress calls.

"We are looking at having the satellite stations maybe before the end of the year. Once we have our firefighters properly trained, then we will establish a satellite station, especially for Cowdray Park," said Mr Phiri.

He said the fire and ambulance services department had been severely affected by brain drain with the department losing more than 30 trained personnel during the last mass exodus, with most workers relocating to the United Arab Emirates.

Speaking at the same event, Bulawayo Chamber Secretary Mrs Sikhangele Zhou said the ongoing water shedding was also contributing to reduced response as water hydrants would be empty in shedded areas and would be unable to provide unlimited water supply in the event of fires.

She said new fire stations would help with water availability despite water challenges and reiterated that the poor road network had become a factor in delayed responses to distress calls.

"Our standard response time is 10 minutes but we cannot no longer speed with our sirens up because the road network does not allow us anymore, and some areas such as Waterford are very far. It becomes difficult for us to make it in time.

With the economy of the city and residents paying their rates on time, we could construct new fire stations for far lying areas such as Waterford and Cowdray Park in no time," said Mrs Zhou.