Paramedics seen as 'soft targets, easy pickings' by criminals on Cape Flats
15 Augus t2018
"I greet my family as if I’m going to war," paramedic Abdul Waheem Martin says in the opening minutes of Red Zone Paramedics, a documentary film that takes the viewer through the streets of Mitchells Plain on New Year’s Eve.
Emergency medical service (EMS) workers such as Martin are "soft targets" and "easy pickings" for criminals, GroundUp reported.
"Ambulance staff don’t fight back," he says in the film. "And we’re not carrying any weapons or any form of protection."
The "red zone" in the film title refers to areas classified as too dangerous for ambulance workers to move about freely. They have to go in with a police escort. Red zones include Delft, Khayelitsha, Lavender Hill, and areas in Mitchells Plain, such as Tafelsig.