{
  "id": 14235828,
  "title": "Parked ambulances don’t imply they out of service: Gauteng Health",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/parked-ambulances-dont-imply-they-out-of-service-gauteng-health",
  "topic": "health",
  "section": "Health & Medicine",
  "published": "2026-10-13T15:29:34.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "SABC News",
    "slug": "sabc-news",
    "url": "https://www.sabcnews.com/sabcnews/parked-ambulances-dont-imply-they-out-of-service-gauteng-health/"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Gauteng Department of Health (GDOH) is clarifying that parked ambulances at Emergency Medical Services (EMS) bases do not necessarily mean the vehicles are idle or out of service. The department explains that these ambulances are deployed for various critical tasks such as emergency response, intensive care transfers and scheduled patient transport. This clarification comes in response to recent inquiries about the availability of ambulances and the province's overall emergency medical services capacity.\n\nGauteng Health Spokesperson Steve Mabona informs that the department is actively working to augment staffing levels by recruiting 541 additional EMS posts. Applications for these positions closed in September. Mabona emphasizes that filling these positions will help improve operational capacity, enabling the effective delivery of emergency medical services. The GDOH remains committed to managing its ambulance fleet responsibly and continually strengthening the EMS to ensure that available resources are utilized in accordance with the needs of service delivery.",
  "summary": "Gauteng health says ambulances parked at EMS bases should not be viewed as idle.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}