How VEMA started
Voluntary Emergency Medical Assistance was founded on 1 February 2005 by Mark Easton (Intermediate Life Support Paramedic) and Derek More (Basic Life Support Paramedic). Together with two other paramedics in the area of Hillcrest in Kwazulu-Natal they decided to pool their resources and expertise and formulate a voluntary organisation who would respond to medical emergencies within the Outer West Council area of Durban. As the area has developed a number of other qualified persons have joined them as they moved into the area and so today there is a team of 9 members. We have a medical director and two ALS, plus one ILS medic (the ops manager who carries the call-phone) plus 5 BLS members.
With the EMS regulations we are restricted to a maximum of three vehicles with a minimum ILS staff, so currently we run TWO marked response vehicles and the other members use their personal vehicles without warning devices. We do not transport, but provide a first response and extra-resource back-up to the eThekwini Fire and Rescue Service, the RTI, EMS-KZN and various private EMS services. We do not charge for service, but a donation for equipment and running costs is appreciated.
