RURAL areas in the Northern Cape will now have easier access to medical services with the introduction of two sponsored vehicles into the SA Red Cross Air Mercy Service’s (AMS) fleet in Kimberley.

The vehicles, which have been funded by De Beers, were launched on Friday at the AMS hangar. “We are very proud to be partners”, said the operations manager of De Beers, Kimberley Mines, Nompumelo Zikalala. She added that De Beers had spent R7, 5 million in corporate social investment last year in Kimberley alone. Spokesperson for AMS, Vanessa Horn, explained that the vehicles would be used to transport medical teams to rural areas where AMS planes could not land due to bad weather. She said much needed clinics were often cancelled as a result of bad weather.

Presently, services are provided to areas with a long landing strip in close proximity to the hospitals so that health-care providers can be flown in and out on a daily basis. However the availability of airstrips limits access to AMS services. Horn added that it had become evident that there was a need for a ground support unit. This will, however, only be undertaken in areas where the distances travelled are not too great, she said. She explained that the AMS Northern Cape operation provided an aero-medical ambulance service as well as a comprehensive Rural Outreach Programme commonly referred to as the “Flying Doctor Service” “Specialists are flown to remote rural hospitals where they hold primary and specialist clinics”

The AMS works in conjunction with the Northern Cape Department of Health and the rural outreach programme has been running for the past 10 years.

Article: Diamond Fields Advertiser

Journalist: Nadine Visagie

Date: 31 March 2008

Picture: Lianne Butler