Cartrack, Fury Motor Group and Netcare 911 Join Forces to Support Road Accident Victims and Emergency Personnel

The Rapid Intervention Unit has evolved from being a pure safety vehicle that initially secured the scene of an accident until emergency services arrived, to an invaluable support for paramedic and fire personnel complete with extrication capabilities. Launched 13 years ago, the support vehicle operates independently from official medical and rescue vehicles, providing assistance in road accident rescue operations. The vehicle is sponsored by the Fury Motor Group, while Netcare 911 manages and operates the unit which is manned by a team of qualified Netcare 911 personnel.

"South Africa’s road accident statistics are of huge concern and as Cartrack we are keen to join hands with Fury to provide support to Netcare 911’s initiative that offers assistance and support at a time when road accident victims and emergency services personnel need it most,” explains Juan Marais, Sales Director of Cartrack.

With the upcoming December holidays and peak traffic season on the horizon, many families are planning their trips to their holiday destinations, and as a result traffic and accidents increase significantly over this period. During December 2012, 1 475 people were killed on South Africa's roads. A large proportion of accidents are as a result of motorists speaking on their cell phones while driving, speeding and neglecting basic safe driving rules.

Netcare 911 Regional Operations Manager for Gauteng West, Neill Visser explains, "One of the key services that the vehicle provides is to prevent situations where a motorist crashes into an existing accident scene, most common on highways and motorways. Just because you have pulled your vehicle onto the shoulder of the road, does not mean that you are safe. Distracted drivers often do not have enough time to react to a change in the road conditions, which can potentially cause additional damage to an existing accident scene by further injuring accident victims, and placing the lives of emergency personnel attending to the scene at serious risk,” explains Neill.

The unit is in direct contact with Netcare 911’s full incident command centre and receives notifications of incidents from there, attending to between 160 and 180 call outs each month across the Gauteng area. "The first priority is the accident victim as there is a critical period in any emergency victim’s ability to recover, called the ‘Golden Hour’. It is essential that any response maximises this time to give the patient the best possible long term prognosis. The Rapid Intervention Unit has an average response time of twelve minutes from the time that the call is initiated,” Neill adds.

Peter De Kock, Group Risk and Credit Manager at Fury Motor Group says that the unit is first and foremost a project that belongs to the community. "There is no charge to the public for the services rendered by the unit. For us, our priority is to be able to provide quality emergency support in a time of absolute need and when lives depend on it. What started out as a supplementary service of a vehicle equipped with signage, cones and directional equipment to aid with the flow of traffic around accident scenes, has become an invaluable lifeline for accident victims and rescue personnel. The reality is that dealing with a life and death situation on a busy road or freeway is not for the faint-hearted – the vehicle provides an essential buffer against motorists that are distracted and do not notice lane closures and accident scenes,” says Peter. Fury Motor Group will be sponsoring a new Ranger to replace the existing unit that is currently working at full capacity.

"Our equipment sponsorship will see that the unit is kitted out with a new comprehensive collection of rescue equipment including Jaws of Life as well as high-angle rope rescue equipment to secure medical personnel that need to work at an angle such as on an embankment,” says Cartrack’s Juan Marais.

During the December holidays, the unit will be stationed outside Warden on the N3 route to the KwaZulu-Natal coast to assist in emergency rescue efforts in the area.

For more information call Cartrack on 0861 22 78 72, visit www.cartrack.com or follow us on Facebook Twitter YouTube and LinkedIn