Ed Richardson
PORTNET HAS become the first company in Port Elizabeth to have a registered ambulance with trained assistants available to its employees 24 hours a day.
The ambulance, registered at the Department of Transport as an emergency
vehicle, complies with the basic requirements of ambulances. It is equipped with first aid equipment, an oxygen cylinder, a stretcher, facilities for drips, a siren and flashing lights.
Portnet is committed to not only provide primary health care to its employees, but also emergency care, hence the new ambulance, says port operations manager Nad Govender.
Delays in ambulances reaching us in the past have also contributed to this decision. If the need arises, the ambulance can also assist in non-Portnet related emergencies in the immediate vicinity, he says.
The Portnet Employee Care Centre will manage the ambulance. This centre, which started as an ambulance room consisting of only two first aiders, was registered as a clinic, managed by an occupational health sister, at the Department of Health in 1992.
It was declared a fully-fledged employee care centre last year with the appointment of a social worker as well, bringing the total staff complement of the centre to six people. Now the centre is treating employees in totality - physically, socially and psychologically.
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