With hopes of improving service delivery and helping emergency personnel save lives, five new EMS fire and rescue vehicles were delivered to the Florida Fire Station on Wednesday, 6 November.
The blistering heat failed to dampen the spirits of anyone who was at the Fire Station to witness Executive Mayor Herman Mashaba, MMC Michael Sun, and MMC Ntombi Khumalo take delivery of the new EMS vehicles.
These vehicles are part of the on-going EMS Fleet Renewal Programme. Two Air Trucks, two Level 2 Incident Command Vehicles, and one Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) Unit were handed over to the City entities at the Florida Fire Station.
Each vehicle plays a vital role in the performance of firefighters. The two air trucks are used to refill the breathing apparatus used by firefighters at the scene of a fire, and specialised equipment from the Hazmat Unit is used when chemical and other hazardous materials need to be dealt with. The Hazmat Unit is also able to discharge foam that is used to deal with chemical fires.
The Incident Command Vehicles, which are fitted with state-of-the-art technology and surveillance equipment, are used as mobile command centres during emergencies. These vehicles are connected to the Department of Public Safety’s Integrated Intelligent Operation Centre (IIOC), which is the main centre used when dealing with emergencies.
This delivery makes a total of 20 fire vehicles delivered to the City of Johannesburg to date. The City is expecting another delivery of six medium pumpers and two industrial pumpers by the end of November.
“These much-needed fire vehicles are symbolic of the determination we have as a government to fix what is wrong and continue to improve going forward,” said the MMC for Public Safety, Michael Sun.
In his speech, he referred to the five vehicles as a matter of life and death, saying that they help the dedicated firefighters save lives. He went on to say that these vehicles prove the ability of CoJ to provide service delivery and work in the face of criticism, challenges, and limited funding.
Nearing the date when his resignation will be effective, the Mayor, Herman Mashaba, has been extremely busy. In his speech, he told everyone who attended that despite his busy schedule, this was an event he refused to miss. Mashaba wanted to personally thank EMS for the work they do in Johannesburg and the lives they save.
After all of the speeches, all who attended were taken to view the vehicles and learn more about the purpose of each one. This was followed by a demonstration set up by EMS, where a serious accident was portrayed and everyone could see how firefighters and paramedics respond and deal with life-and-death situations.
These dedicated people need to work carefully and precisely, yet quickly to save lives; which is not an easy task. It was extremely interesting to watch and the demonstration gave the onlookers even more respect for the difficult and valuable job these people do.
