Medical service excellence

ER24 offers more than just an emergency medical response service, far more. In fact, for the corporate, there can be no better option for a complete medical service solution.

The chain of events is quick. An accident occurs on the factory floor. An alert co-worker grabs the nearest phone and punches in 084 124. Within seconds the call is patched through to a highly trained and dedicated operator at the state-of-the-art ER24 Emergency Contact Centre. She’s no stranger to this.

The operator quickly makes an informed decision about the nature and extent of the caller’s emergency. And, as quickly as the call was made, one of ER24’s vehicles is dispatched to the scene.

This is just a typical example of the 40 000-plus emergency calls that come into the contact centre every month.

A subsidiary of the Mediclinic Private Hospital Group, ER24 Emergency Medical Services is one of South Africa’s largest private, national emergency medical care services. The company is committed to providing South Africans with efficient, effective emergency response and pre-hospital care. Registered with the Board of Healthcare Funders as an advanced life support ambulance service, ER24 owns and staffs more than 200 rapid response vehicles and ambulances across the country, with vehicles stationed at strategic points within the operational area of the specific branch.

Every aspect of ER24’s business, from approach to execution, comes across as professional.

But what exactly can they offer the corporate world?

“ER24’s goal is to partner with our clients to effectively offer services that make a positive contribution towards the health and safety environment and quality of our business partners,” says Coleen Daniel, ER24 corporate sales manager. The provision of 24/7 pre-hospital emergency medical services for its clients forms the basis of this, but it gets more involved still.

It is explained that, under the General Safety Regulation 3 of the Occupational Health and Safety Act 85 of 1993, an employer is responsible for the wellbeing of all employees. In specific, the CEO (or similar) will be liable for all the transgressions of employees and contractors unless all reasonable steps have been taken to prevent foreseeable risks from becoming a reality.

ER24’s range of products has therefore been created to cater for all the legislation’s requirements. By contracting with ER24, an organisation can have peace of mind knowing that in a medical emergency it is guaranteed a response (and, if necessary, patient stabilisation and medical transportation) from ER24. Further still, all staff will have access to ER24’s 24-hour contact centre.

ER24 first aid kits and emergency signage is also available, and ER24 will provide assistance with emergency drills by sending out a team of experts with equipment and vehicles, assist in drawing up emergency plans, and, through the company’s training academy, provide accredited training in medical, rescue, health and safety. These span everything from CPR, AED (automated external defibrillator) use, first aid levels 1, 2 and 3; rescue components and fire and evacuation marshals.

Through the contact centre, clients also have the added benefit of medically trained professionals – be that paramedics, nurses or doctors – available 24-hours a day to guide callers through a medical crisis, as well as give general medical information. “This is an information service, as a telephonic conversation does not permit accurate medical advice or diagnosis,” cautions Marc Fourie, ER24 marketing manager. A doctor is also available to make informed decisions during a critical life-saving medical emergency.

But what if you’re away from the work environment and an incident occurs? ER24 provides and manages what it refers to as “holistic risk mitigating medical assistance” and “site based medical solutions” for remote site projects. Especially relevant to
SHEQ Management readers is that focus is placed on the mining, petroleum, engineering and related sectors of industry. Remote-site projects can even be established and managed across the entire African continent.

That’s slightly further afield than may be required, but it is also no doubt reassuring to know medical teams are available for all levels of events with services tailored to specific requirements, again, both within and beyond the borders of South Africa.

“We actively advise and assist event organisers to become compliant with current event guidelines and legislation,” enthuses Daniel. “Our approach to all events is based on the philosophy of ‘peace of mind’ and we maintain a high level of professionalism and strive to build long-term relationships with all our clients by fully understanding their individual event needs,” continues Fourie.

Still on the point of being afield, ER24 has established a global care division to assist a client’s employees moving throughout the world in receiving the best possible medical attention. Services include everything from transport and accommodation arrangements, to translation services, hospital placement within the ER24 Preferred Provider Network, and referral to appropriate specialists and post-operative care in the patient’s home country upon discharge.

Extensively covering South Africa and beyond, ER24 presents a full emergency medical service option. Empowering its clients to know not only who to call, but also what to do, is an obviously important aspect of ER24’s service. One wonders what the volume in calls at the 084 124 Emergency Contact Centre really would be, without such an approach to being a medical service provider.