The secret lives of firefighters – feats of midwifery, first aid and trauma management

Most people would assume they have a fair idea of what being a firefighter entails. After all, it’s in the job title – they fight fires. But when Daily Maverick sat down with a crew at Ottery Fire Station in Cape Town, what was revealed is a lesser-known side of life in the service, linked to the role of stations as primary emergency care points in communities.

Ottery residents often approach the fire station for assistance with injuries and ailments, knowing the site has a first aid post and is open 24/7. The firefighters have learnt to be prepared for anything: heart problems, traumatic injuries, even childbirth.

At around 5am one morning in late July this year, firefighter Wade Mohamed was working in the watchroom, known as the “face” of the fire house, when an expectant mother arrived at the gate. It quickly became clear that she was close to giving birth. The seven-person crew on duty at the station rushed to the trauma room where, under the experienced leadership of Platoon Commander Amesha Bachan, they successfully delivered a baby boy.

“All of us sitting here are trained to the extent where we can deal with a variety of incidents, if need be. That specific morning, we had a lady who was pregnant, and our first aid post is always available,” said senior firefighter Ivor Parenzee, who has assisted with the delivery of seven babies during his time with the service.

“With everybody’s assistance on the shift, we managed it very well. We could bring a new boy into this world.”

Steve Africa, a junior firefighter who had never assisted with a delivery, said the experience was difficult to describe, but ultimately “joyful”.

For Bachan, it was the fortieth baby she had delivered during 17 years of service.

“It’s a regular occurrence at any fire station. It’s been happening over many, many years. And we’ve got fire stations that have high volumes of pregnancies and deliveries, such as the Hout Bay, Milnerton and Gugulethu stations,” she said.

Serving the community

Bachan noted that the expectant mothers and other community members who approached the station for assistance often had a history of limited access to healthcare services.

“The community members who come to the fire station are people who are less privileged… [They] are making use of government hospitals where they’re limited to one scan during the pregnancy… It’s highly unlikely that someone with medical aid comes to a fire station because they mostly have access to transport [and] private ambulance services,” she said.

“We do what we can, to the best of our knowledge and training… Our resources at the station are limited. It’s a pre-hospital setting. We have the basics for primary emergency care.”

One of our late colleagues used to say firefighters are ordinary people doing extraordinary things

The crew at Ottery Fire Station has assisted people suffering from heart attacks, gunshot and stab wounds, and car impact injuries, among other problems.

“We had a young boy [who] came here with a rash from running in the grass,” Bachan recalled.

Bachan encouraged all members of the community to view the fire station as a safe, clean environment where they could go for help.

“It’s a safe space… and we’re going to find the best possible way to assist you, no matter what,” she said, adding that the fire station crews could not transport patients, but would call ambulance services where an individual needed further care.

Teams of all-rounders

Firefighters needed to be “all-rounders”, said junior firefighter Chad Sias, able to move swiftly from one type of incident to another, whether a vegetation fire, a house that was ablaze, a motor vehicle accident or a first aid emergency at the station.

“We have to do 20 hours of training every month… We throw in everything, from drilling outside on the tower with the [fire engine] to medical calls… and we keep ourselves to a standard so that we don’t deteriorate… Everyone has an opportunity to do something,” said Parenzee.

Every aspect of the job comes with risks. Bachan spoke of incidents where local gangsters entered the fire station seeking emergency care.

“We’ve had a situation where we had two gangsters come into the station – one first and then another about 30 minutes later – and they were involved in the same fight, from rival gangs,” she said.

“Sometimes, you only have one person at the fire station because all our vehicles are out, and it makes it challenging.”

There are times when the crew faces hostility from residents while responding to fires. Bachan has been physically assaulted twice in the past year while in the field, though she emphasised that the team maintained good relationships with most communities in the area.

“We do try our best. Sometimes, when emotions are running high, it’s difficult for [people] to understand that… One of our late colleagues used to say firefighters are ordinary people doing extraordinary things, and we tend to forget that we’re still humans. We still feel things,” she said.

The fire crews have debriefing sessions after each incident and have learnt to look out for one another and recognise when someone is struggling, said Parenzee. 

Bachan echoed this sentiment: “We come back from a call, we talk a lot of nonsense, we laugh, we eat. Food always makes anyone feel good. But we do have access to trauma counselling, as well as employee assistance programmes.”

Beyond the training, Bachan puts a high value on the trust and communication between members of the team that allows them to respond to incidents in a structured manner.

“These guys are extremely resilient. They are tenacious… It makes it worthwhile coming to work, and I do appreciate every single one of them,” she said. DM