Image:Facebook/DENOSA
DENOSA calls for beefing up of emergency nurses
Union concerned over the lack of specialised trauma and emergency nurses in the country are vital in events like the gas explosion
Image:Facebook/DENOSA
The Democratic Nursing Organisation of South Africa(DENOSA) in Gauteng, has called on the provincial government to improve the preparedness of emergency services in the wake of the recent gas explosion in the Johannesburg CBD.
The union says the health care sector has been caught flat footed in the wake of disasters with hospitals and clinics buckling under the pressure.
ALSO READ:DENOSA defends nurses who placed newborn babies in boxes
SA NURSES SKILLS SHORTAGE
Since December 2022, Gauteng has been prone to a number of mass emergency situations. This includes the Boksburg gas tank explosion and gas leak, the Hammanskraal cholera outbreak and the flash floods that hit parts of the province earlier this year.
In a statement, the union says staff shortages and lack of skilled nurses makes it almost impossible for nurses to leave their posts and assist in emergency situations.
ALSO READ:SONA 2023: DENOSA wants Ramaphosa to focus on NHI and deteriorating healthcare services
“Due to the shortage of emergency nurses, there is great potential that many patients could be lost if they are not attended to by adequately skilled nurses,” it says.
“This is because of constant overcrowding in many facilities means quick reallocation of needed skills for Bree Street like emergencies becomes impossible”
HEALTHCARE SERVICES ARE ILLEQUIPED TO DEAL WITH MASS EMERGENCY
ALSO READ: DENOSA to report viral Calcot Dlephu Clinic incident to the SAHRC
ALSO READ: DENOSA defends Burgersfort Clinic nurse who allegedly turned away a woman in labour
The union noted that if the gas explosion in Johannesburg had caught fire, the situation have been much worst, healthcare services would not have managed.
“Had the worst happened, the healthcare services would not have coped and that would have had a disastrous effect on the recovery rate of patients”
The Union has called on the province to heed the call from 10 pillars from the Presidential Health Summit in May. This will enable the training of emergency nurses and have detailed contingency plans sych as roles and responsibilities on what to during emergency situations.
