Towards the end of November (2013), staff from the Department of Emergency Medical Care and Rescue at DUT were involved in a rescue effort at the Tongaat Mall after a concrete slab caved in.

The DUT staff members responded swiftly to the tragic incident, which happened on Tuesday night (19 November 2013).

Aldon Delport and Travis Trower, both lecturers in the Department, said they were alerted about the incident just after 17h30 from local emergency agencies including eThekwini Emergency Services.

Delport believes that DUT Emergency Medical Care and Rescue (EMCR) have the best search specialist equipment and expertise in rescue services. “The DUT EMCR has both national and international reputation in rescue relief in disasters and offered professional paramedics,” said Delport.

“Once we arrived at the scene, we received a proper briefing and decided to send two more staff with the necessary equipment,” added Trower. According to Delport, the DUT rescue team spent almost six hours at the scene.

Delport has extensive experience in Emergence Medical Care and Fire Services while Trower has over 15 years experience in Emergency Medical Care.

According to Sageshin Naguran who heads the DUT Department of EMCR, search and rescue efforts after a structural collapse is extremely dangerous work. “Though we did not manage to locate any survivors, we assisted in recovering the one body,” he said. He commended his staffs’ effort for managing the scene with proper structures in place, making sure that there was a co-ordinated approach to the search and rescue effort.

– Thabo Maile

Pictured: Travis Trower, Emergency Medical Care and Rescue Lecturer at DUT. Trower was one of the DUT Emergency Medical Care and Rescue staff members who responded to the tragic incident at the Tongaat Mall where a concrete slab collapsed.