The Fish Hoek Emergency Call Centre (ECC) will soon bid farewell to one of its longest-standing volunteers.
Fish Hoek resident, David Fyfe, has volunteered at the ECC for the past 16 years.
He will be joining his family in Australia and New Zealand at the end of August.
The ECC has been going for 20 years and is run entirely by volunteers. It is located at the Fish Hoek police station and is a member of
the Fish Hoek Community Police Forum (CPF) and operates on a 24-hour basis.
The ECC works closely with SAPS, Cape Medical Response, Metro ambulance, the fire department and the neighbourhood watches.
Mr Fyfe said one of the ECC’s founders had invited him to join a shift shortly after he had arrived in Fish Hoek from KwaZulu-Natal, where he had been a farmer.
“I joined him on a shift and the rest is history,” he said.
Volunteering at the centre was his way of giving back to the community, he said. “I’m really going to miss it.”
ECC acting chairman, Bobbi Marshall, said Mr Fyfe’s departure would be a great loss to the centre, and that in the past month he had helped two far south residents caught in life-threatening situations.
He contacted paramedics after receiving a call from a walker who had come
across a man having a heart attack in Glencairn Heights.The man was transported to hospital by helicopter.
In a second incident, Mr Fyfe contacted the police after he took a call from a concerned resident who was worried about her neighbour as she had not seen her for several days.
Police found the woman unconscious and paramedics were called. She was taken to hospital. Fish Hoek police spokesman, Warrant Officer Peter Middelton, confirmed the incident.
Mr Marshall said the ECC volunteers received calls daily about various emergencies – including snakes, missing persons, baboon harassment, car accidents, fires and medical emergencies.
The centre also reports municipal faults and problems.
CPF chairman, Andre Blom said the ECC volunteers could link quickly to the relevant emergency services for the quickest possible response.
In cases where it is not an emergency, Mr Blom said, the ECC gives the caller the correct contact details of the required service.
“Joining the ECC as a volunteer enables community orientated members to provide their community with a very important and necessary service.
“The ECC provides various methods by which volunteers can assist and contribute to a safe, secure and clean valley,” he said.
* To contact the ECC, call 021 782 0333 or to join as a volunteer, call Charlene at 082 774 0059.
