2010 emergency medical plans put on hold 12/12/2008 |
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A doctor who was part of a technical team to design the country's 2010 disaster management plan says emergency medical plans for the World Cup have been halted due to a lack of funding. Emergency medicine specialist Stewart Boyd says while a national plan was drawn up, the tender process for additional emergency vehicles and training courses for emergency personnel have been suspended.
Boyd says this means that the only infrastructure in place is the already overburdened public health system. In Durban alone, there are only around 40 ambulances to serve 3.5 million people. He says should a disaster occur during the World Cup, the already overburdened health sector will be unable to cope.
The doctor adds that there was a national committee set up, and a technical committee was to advise them on disaster management. He says the European Union (EU) funding that was supposed to have come through, has not. As a result of this no further training is being undertaken.
Boyd questions how the country will have an organisation that will oversee over 400 000 people, if current financial year purchases haven’t been organised and if standards and training are not well in place?
(Source: sabcnews.co.za)
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