This is how Cheslynn Benn, a firefighter of the City of Cape Town’s Fire and Rescue Services, described an occupant’s physical response to an accident during a special demonstration at the World Trauma Day event hosted at Helderberg Hospital this past Monday (17 October).
Lucas Munzhelele, the operational manager of the Emergency Centre at the Somerset West medical facility, organised the event commemorated globally on 17 October every year, with an emphasis on saving lives and how to properly attend to emergency cases.
“Myself en Dr Michelle Allen invited stakeholders and we wanted to present how the emergency system works. We also had a talk about our new Hospital and Emergency Centre Tracking Information System (Hectis) which is used to monitor important statistics pertaining to emergency centre operations including when a spate in patients occurs,” said Munzhelele.
He further explained that the day was also about educating the community on what an emergency is, what do in case of an emergency and the process at Helderberg Hospital. In attendance were representatives of the Emergency Medical Services (EMS) and Fire an Rescues Services that are called in serious, unexpected and often dangerous situations requiring immediate response. To raise awareness on the importance of blood and organ donation, the Western Cape Blood Service (WCBS) was ready to provide all the insight guests needed. WCBS staff will return to the hospital for a blood drive at month-end.
