Shop Owner Serious After Shooting.

A thirty two old shop owner is in a serious condition after being shot in the leg after opening his stall in Field Street, Durban CBD this morning.

ER24 paramedics arrived on the scene to find the man seated on the floor with his pants stained with blood. Paramedics investigated and found he had sustained a gunshot wound to his upper leg and was in a severe pain. The patient received fluid through a drip and advanced life support intervention was performed. The patient was stabilised further and transported to a nearby hospital for further medical care in a serious but stable condition.

It is believed that the man was opening his shop when he was approached by the suspects. Once inside they demanded the money. It is unclear what happened then but the owner got shot and the suspects got away with an undisclosed amount of money.

The necessary authorities were on the scene and would be investigating the incident further.

Please Help - 18 Die In Old Age Home Fire

News broke this morning on several radio and television broadcasts of the 18 elderly people that died in a horrific fire in Nigel.

The fire broke out late last night at the Peter Wessels Old Age Home and left scores of people without any food, clothes or something to keep them warm. Some of them could save their personal belongings, but majority lost everything.

Please be so kind to assist with one of the following wherever you can:

1. Non-perishable food
2. Clothes
3. Blankets
4. Toiletries
5. Shoes
6. Bedding, etc.

If you can assist with any of the above or in any other way, please mail me (werner.vermaak@er24.co.za) or Anne-Rita Fewell (anne-rita.fewell@er24.co.za).

Your assistance would be highly appreciated.

http://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/18-die-in-old-age-home-fire-20100802

They are currently being assisted by two churches in the area.

Bakkie Rolls Killing Four

It appears that a bakkie carrying fifteen people lost control in a bend in Church Street in Bloemfontein causing it to roll. According to ER24 paramedics on the scene, the bakkie did not have a canopy, and the occupants at the back of the vehicle were thrown off while it rolled. When paramedics arrived on the scene, there was debris and patients scattered everywhere, and they immediately got to work assessing the injured.

Sadly, four men people lost their lives in the accident after having suffered multiple fatal injuries. There was nothing more that the paramedics could do for them and they were declared deceased on the scene. A woman needed to be stabilised by an Advanced Life Support paramedic, as she had sustained critical injuries, she was further placed on manual ventilation and rushed to a local private hospital. She may have sustained a severe head injury and multiple other traumatic injuries.

Four men and two women were treated for possible back and neck injuries, and were placed on spinal immobilisation equipment. A further three men and a woman were treated for minor injuries. All patients were transported to nearby hospitals for further assessment and treatment.

Two Taxis Collide Head On

ER24 paramedics described the scene as somewhat chaotic, where two taxis had rammed into each other, head on, with severe force, coming to rest almost perfectly next to each other. The incident took place at around 22h00, on Landsdown road in Khayelitsha. Paramedics allegedly had a difficult time of sorting through the bystanders in order to find the patients, and again found it difficult to determine if they were really a patient involved in the accident or not.

Three patients had sustained multiple serious injuries, with two of them being in a more critical condition than the other one. The two more critical men were determined to be the drivers of the respective taxi, who were flung out of the front windscreen of their vehicles upon impact. Both had multiple broken bones and severe head injuries. The other man had sustained broken bones but was in a stable condition. He was trapped in a passenger seat of one of the taxis for approximately fourty minutes while Fire and Rescue workers used the Jaws of Life to cut away at the wrecked metal surrounding him.

Another 5 men and one women were treated on scene for minor injuries and shock, and all patients were loaded into ambulances and transported to various surrounding provincial hospitals.

Young Man Seriously Injured After Motorbike Accident

A twenty year old man was left with serious injuries after he crashed into the back of a stationery car while riding his motorbike. It seems that the driver of the car slowed down to almost a stop as he was attempting to pull off into a side road from Louisrus road near Vanderbijlpark.

The impact was quite severe, pushing the young mans pelvis up against the handlebars, causing a bad break to his hips. ER24 paramedics on the scene also treated him for a possible break to his left leg, hypothermia and loss of blood. His hips were stabilised by means of a tie splint and he was given pain medication before he was moved into the ambulance. Paramedics noticed that the young man was strangely calm through the entire incident, and was handed over to the hospital staff in a serious but stable condition.

The man's family arrived on scene and were visibly concerned for their son.

It seems that the driver of the car had left the scene by the time the paramedics arrived. The police will be investigating.

Wall Falls On Boy

A fifteen year old boy has sustained a bad break to his right leg and left arm after a wall fell on top of him.

According to ER24 paramedics on the scene, the boys family was enjoying a Sunday family get together, and the boy was playing in the garden with the other children. He then ran up one of the embankments and jumped up onto a wall, hanging down from it by his hands. The wall then gave way and a few of the bigger boulders fell on top of him breaking his leg and arm.

Bystanders removed the boulders from his body and made him as comfortable as possible before paramedics arrived. The family was clearly shaken by the incident, and the teen was in severe pain.

The ER24 Advanced Life Support paramedic gave the boy some pain medication, they splinted his broken limbs, and transported him in a stable condition to hospital. Fortunately none of the other children were injured.

Two Trucks Collided Head On In Pietermaritzburg

It seems that one of the trucks crossed the middle island of the highway and then slammed head on into a second truck which was travelling in the opposite direction. It is unclear as to which of the trucks was initially at fault, but both of them were severely damaged. The incident occurred at approximately 19h00 on the N3 in Pietermaritzburg near the Lion Park off ramp.
 
After the initial accident, two other sedans crashed into the wreckage of the two trucks. One of the occupants of the truck, which was a vehicle transported truck and was empty at the time, died on impact, while the other occupant was treated by Advanced Life Support paramedics as he had sustained multiple critical injuries. The second truck, carrying chemicals, caught alight shortly after the accident, and the entire cabin and back container of the truck was engulfed in flames. It seems that the driver was ejected out of the vehcile after impact, and he dies soon afterwards. Fire and Rescue workers battled to extinguish the blaze.

A couple travelling in one of the sedans, were lucky enough to only have sustained moderate injuries, and were treated for possible back and neck injuries before being transported to hospital. The other two occupants of the second car sustained no physical injury and requested private transportation at a later stage if the need arose.

The entire N3 highway was closed while emergency personnel were on scene.

Foetus Found On Pavement

ER24 paramedics were called to Grey avenue in Vereeniging near the Joubert street intersection for a foetus that was found lying on the pavement. The foetus, according to the paramedics on scene, was approximately eighteen centimetres long.

The reason that the foetus was just lying there, exposed on the pavement, is unclear, and the mother who had given birth to the child was nowhere to be found. Sadly the little thing was already deceased by the time the ambulance was called, and paramedics pronounced it dead on the scene.

Strangely enough, there is a hospital right across the street to where the incident took place, and the mother was for some unknown reason unable to get the baby there. The police were on scene to perform the necessary tasks for investigation.

Pedestrian Knocked Down As Bakkie Overturns

A woman in her sixties was left with serious injuries after she was knocked over by a bakkie on the R56 in the Frans Location in Pietermaritzburg.

ER24 paramedics on the scene said that it seems the bakkie had lost control for some reason, and as they left the road, they collided with the woman. She was treated for multiple broken bones, but was in a stable condition as she was taken through to the hospital.

The bakkie spun further out of control and came to rest in its roof after rolling down the embankment on the side of the road. The three male occupants were already outside of the vehicle when paramedics arrived. They were treated for possible back and neck injuries, and minor scrapes and bruises. They were all transported to a nearby provincial hospital.

The police were on the scene to take statements for investigation.

Seven Car Pile Up Leaves Thirteen Injured

Paramedics from all surrounding areas were called to the N12 Eastbound, between the Kliprivier and Camaro exits. It seems that one car was rear ended, which caused it to roll, and another five cars then crashed into the first two cars. Debris was seen to be covering all four lanes on the highway, with it extending approximately a hundred meters forward.

An ER24 paramedic described the initial scene as chaotic, with people strewn across the highway. After taking control of the scene, it was determined that there were a possible thirteen patients from the two bakkies and five cars involved.

Fire and Rescue services had to cut a number of seriously injured people from the wrecks, while others were picked up from the roadside gutters after having been ejected from the vehicles that had rolled. There were a select few that were lucky enough to have sustained only minor injuries and were walking around on the scene.

In total, four patients were in a serious condition due to head injuries or multiple broken bones, and nine patients were treated for moderate to minor injuries. All patients were transported by ambulance to nearby hospitals, and the scene was eventually cleared almost three hours later.

One can only be thankful that no one lost their life in this terrible accident.