Operational medics – familiarly ops medics – are the frontline emergency caregivers in the SA Military Health Service (SAMHS) who face the rigours of combat tending to wounded while bullets are literally still flying.
It takes a special person to become one of the elite South African military medics, a fact taken into account by SAMHS management under the leadership of Surgeon General, Lieutenant General Peter Maphaha, in a recruitment campaign currently underway. Confining recruitment and selection to the three combat services of the SA National Defence Force (SANDF) – SA Air Force (SAAF), SA Army and SA Navy (SAN) – means those making final selection have military training and in wider terms, understand and appreciate the task ahead of qualification as emergency care assistants (ECAs) before starting the ops medic course, integral to force preparation for military operations.
To date, according to SAMHS Corporate Communication, 74 young and fit uniformed SANDF personnel have made the ECA grade at SAMHS School for Military Health Training (SMHT) in Centurion. They underwent rigorous selection including physical and phobia evaluation, medical examination, physical fitness and swimming proficiency ending with a structured personal interview. The successful candidates are all SANDF regular force personnel who will start their next training phase in February.
The ECA course is an entry level emergency medical care qualification with 120 credits as per the National Qualification Framework (NQF) levels.
Three sites have been identified for ECA training – SMHT and emergency medical care (EMS) colleges in the Free State and Northern Cape provinces. Successful ECA trainees then face the arduous ops medic course at SMHT and its satellites SAMHS bases.
