A siren cuts through traffic and, for a few seconds, demands everyone’s attention. Motorists move aside, an ambulance passes and the sound eventually disappears into the distance. What the public rarely sees is the world travelling inside it.
World First Aid Day, observed on Saturday, 12 September, places the focus on the importance of immediate intervention when someone becomes ill or injured. First aid can preserve life while professional medical help is still on its way, making the minutes between an emergency occurring and definitive medical care critical. It is in that space that paramedics spend much of their working lives.
Ahead of World First Aid Day, The Merebank and Chatsworth Tabloid joined ALS Paramedics for a ride-along to look beyond the flashing lights and sirens and gain an in-depth understanding of the people at the frontline of emergency care — what they do, what is demanded of them and why their role matters long before a patient reaches hospital.
Over the course of the ride-along, crews collected and transferred patients, attended accident scenes, responded as backup to other teams, treated patients experiencing difficulty breathing and transported an injured worker to another hospital for further care.
For Thandolwethu Mbatha, who has worked as a medic since 2016, readiness begins before the first emergency.
“We start work at 6am, check the van, make sure all the equipment is there and everything is working well, and then we are fit to be on the road. We need to always be prepared for whatever we will be facing throughout the day,” she said.
A call can only tell a crew so much. The true condition of a patient, the severity of an injury and the treatment required may only become clear when paramedics arrive.
Matilda Nana Mhongo, who has worked at ALS Paramedics since 2019, said: “Every day is very unpredictable. From the first call of the day to the last, everything is always different. While you are en route to the case, the adrenaline is just having to think of what treatment you will actually have to do there.”
Inside the ambulance, the race is therefore not simply about speed. Before reaching a scene, paramedics are already considering possible injuries, treatment and whether additional medical support may be required.
When a case falls beyond the attending medic’s scope of practice, Mhongo said: “Obviously you call for backup, wait for them to come while you’re still treating. You treat at your own scope of practice. Stabilise.”
Behind the flashing lights is a profession demanding medical knowledge, observation, judgement and composure, often while frightened relatives and chaotic surroundings compete for attention.
ALS Paramedics director Garrith Jamieson said the weight of that responsibility is often underestimated.
“The responsibility of someone’s life is a massive responsibility. We are complete strangers entering at a traumatic time and expect family members to trust us. It’s quite an anxious situation,” he said.
That pressure can be heightened when relatives or members of the public interfere while crews are treating a patient.
“An ambulance is more than transport to hospital. It is a mobile treatment environment where emergency care begins, often under intense pressure,” Jamieson said.
Yet the people providing that care are not untouched by what they witness.
Mbatha still remembers arriving at her first scene as a nervous new medic, when a senior told her that if she could not cope with the profession, she should take off the uniform and leave.
“But that didn’t deter me. I put my big-girl pants on. I chose this life so I could face what was coming next,” she said.
Some calls have never left her. One involved a patient attacked by two pit bulls.
“It was traumatising because I didn’t know that dogs could really kill someone,” she said.
Another involved a child of about four or five who had drowned. People were already performing CPR when paramedics arrived.
“I have a very soft spot for kids, so seeing her lying down there, my heart, my mind, my soul was just solely on that child. In my life I’ve never prayed so much as I’ve prayed for this child, for God to save her life,” Mbatha recalled.
“After everything happened, I cried my lungs out because that really changed my life. I appreciate the life we have. Till today, when I think about that case, I get heartbroken because she was too young,” she added.
For Sibusiso “Sox” Nkabinde, 17 years in emergency medicine have brought both joy and tragedy.
“I love my job. Being a medic is tough at times. We stay strong because we are in this for saving lives. For me, it is a God-given talent,” he said.
Some of his most rewarding calls have involved helping to bring new life into the world.
“Helping a woman give birth, it is a great feeling to hand over the baby. To go to an accident scene and not lose one soul, it’s a great pleasure to save a life and bring a life into the world,” Nkabinde said.
He also recalled a June 2023 collision on the M4 Southern Freeway involving two women and a child after their vehicle overturned. The child sustained severe injuries and was stabilised by the crew, but later died in hospital.
“It really broke my heart that when we got to the scene, instead of the public helping get people out of the car, they were filming the tragedy. I hope her family finds peace and comfort,” he said.
It is also why World First Aid Day carries a message for the public.
A day inside their world revealed a profession that demands calm in urgency, compassion alongside clinical judgement and the ability to repeatedly enter moments of trauma and still focus on the person who needs help.
Some calls save lives. Some welcome new ones. Others leave memories that follow paramedics long after the ambulance has driven away. Then another call comes.
For the public, a siren may last only seconds. For the people behind it, it is someone’s life calling for help.
