Ambulance services in SA's largest cities

[Effira]

Hi,

I would like to have information about emergency medical services in cities like Johannesburg, Cape Town or Pretoria. Is transport to a hospital by ambulance a free service? Can everyone, including people with a low income, call an ambulance in case of accident or if they’re not feeling well? Do people with low income have the reflex to call an ambulance if they need it in those cities?

Many thanks!

[AndyD]

Yes, ambulance services are freely available and free of charge to low income people across the entire country.

If people are feeling unwell or require treatment for chronic illnesses such as HIV or TB they would go to one of the many free local day clinics (not by ambulance) and see a Doctor, ambulances are only usually used as emergency response for medical incidents and accidents or sometimes if specialist care is required they're used for planned transport. For transport to get to a local Doctor or clinic a taxi is generally used which would arrive at any destination far faster than an ambulance.

There are also local private ambulance / EMS companies in most city areas where you can pay a monthly subscription, I think our local one is around ZAR350 per month. They tend to have a faster response time than the government ambulances due to them serving a very local area and also tend to have higher qualified personnel although not always. Most low income households wouldn't subscribe to a private ambulance company because the government ambulances generally provide good enough service.

[Effira]

Yes, ambulance services are freely available and free of charge to low income people across the entire country.

If people are feeling unwell or require treatment for chronic illnesses such as HIV or TB they would go to one of the many free local day clinics (not by ambulance) and see a Doctor, ambulances are only usually used as emergency response for medical incidents and accidents or sometimes if specialist care is required they're used for planned transport. For transport to get to a local Doctor or clinic a taxi is generally used which would arrive at any destination far faster than an ambulance.

There are also local private ambulance / EMS companies in most city areas where you can pay a monthly subscription, I think our local one is around ZAR350 per month. They tend to have a faster response time than the government ambulances due to them serving a very local area and also tend to have higher qualified personnel although not always. Most low income households wouldn't subscribe to a private ambulance company because the government ambulances generally provide good enough service.

Thank you very much for your reply, Andy. I appreciate it!

[2Conn]

That's a very good ability to have, I always new that south africa is really really cool country with everything you like and needed for sure. How do you go about that topic starter ? Do you want to live well here probably or something like that ?