'A' Shift - Building Rescue
In 2007, ‘A’ Shift of Berea Fire Station received a call to rescue a teenager from the top of her building in Braamfontein. Such calls are commonplace in the City of Johannesburg EMS during final exam time. ‘A’ Shift consists of: Lizelle Delport – Platoon Commander, Tommie Marx, Hendrik Kgang, PS Mukondeleli, Mzayifani Gama and Mujinga Mamy.
When they arrived at the building, the team went up to the 9th storey to find the girl hanging outside of a window, clutching a pole. The SAPS were already at the scene and along with the team, tried to talk to the 16 year old, but she wasn’t willing to communicate. As it turned out, this troubled teen was deaf and dumb.
Immediately, a person with knowledge of sign language was called in to help, but the girl refused to see them. The team noticed that she was going blue and growing increasingly cold – telltale signs of shock. It was then that ‘A’ Shift took action. Some of the crew made its way to the 8th floor where they opened a window and started creating a support structure to catch the victim in case she fell. They took off filing cabinet doors and got people from a nearby office to assist them at the window. Meanwhile on the 9th storey, platoon commander Lizelle Delport began unscrewing the window, which made the teenager nervous. Lizelle asked the victim who she would like to talk to, prompting the girl to look for a number on her phone. This little act turned out to be rather significant, as the window started to give way. Next, members of the SAPS diverted the girls attention while the team removed the final screw from the window. Finally, the team could get to work.
Lizelle asked a policeman to hold onto her belt and legs while she hung out the window, trying to write down the number on the girls phone. The number was taken down and Lizelle assured the girl that they were going to call it right away. Lizelle then asked the victim to give her her hand, but the teen simply shook her head and started crying.
At this point the platoon commander asked for another piece of paper. She wrote down “Tell me what I can do for you.” and handed it to the victim along with a pen. The girl carried on refusing, to which Lizelle wrote “PLEASE”. After this, the teen released her right hand from the pole and started writing on the paper. When she finished, she extended her arm out to return the pen and paper. Little did she know that Lizelle had a rescue plan in order.
Slowly and discreetly, Lizelle backed away from the girl, causing her to stretch her arm out further. Immediately, Lizelle grabbed her right arm while her colleague Mamy, grabbed her left. With the aid of the SAPS, the two fire-fighter / emergency medical technicians managed to pull the frantic girl to safety. The ordeal was finally over and a life had been saved thanks to a little ingenuity and a piece of paper.
