Rotary-1, a new ambulance dedicated to serving the Cape Peninsula's Far South Community, was handed over on July 25th to operator Cape Medical Response (CMR).

The R340,000 vehicle has been significantly funded by an anonymous donor and the Rotary Clubs of Claremont and Newlands have  each contributed R 75,000.  A hallmark of the project has been the CSI collaboration of Rotary Clubs with business, in particular CMR (who will operate the vehicle) and Clarion Printed Products , whose significant pro bono contribution made the ambulance signage possible.

Rotary-1 was an the initiative of Newlands Rotarian, Colin Burke (below) and the well attended handover took place at Café Roux at Noordhoek Farm Village .
 

"Private medical insurance is an unaffordable luxury for many of the residents of Ocean View, Masiphumelele, Red Hill and Fish Hoek and, for medical emergencies, these people have to rely on the Provincial Ambulance Service.  However, due to enormous workload, provincial ambulances are often not available.  This leaves the patient and family to find an alternative means of getting to hospital, a situation which, tragically, has proven fatal for some.

"Rotary-1, which takes its name from the licence plate of the vehicle, will soon be manned 24/7 and will be based at Cape Medical Response (CMR) in Fish Hoek from where it will service the townships in the region.  The ambulance will be available to all Far South residents and will be part of the existing paramedic set up at CMR.  Where appropriate, it will also be available to local projects, sporting and recreational events  as well as larger Rotary projects such as the Cape Argus Pick 'n Pay Cycle Tour and The Big Walk .

"The provincial ambulance service will continue to receive emergency calls but, in the event that they cannot respond timeously, they will contact CMR to dispatch Rotary-1."

Seen below are (L to R) Presidents Andy Rumbelow (Cape of Good Hope) and Andy Ismay (Newlands), Rotarian Colin Burke (Newlands) and PP Alan Walters (Cape of Good Hope).

A big thanks is due to the members of the media who covered the story, in particular Solly Philander from 567 Cape Talk  and Melissa Nel and Rian Baynes from Die Burger , which, on Saturday 26th, published the image and comment below -