Trauma rooms need maintenance, says victim support group

Durbanville Victim Empowerment Programme coordinator Hennie Odendaal and volunteers Elizabeth Maans and Sha-Shalee Croy at Fisantekraal police station’s trauma room during a Mandela Day donation drive for the building.

The trauma rooms at Fisantekraal and Durbanville police station need regular maintenance, according to a victim-support group.

A year ago, the Fisantekraal trauma room was broken into and everything of value was stolen, and electrical wires and plugs were ripped out, according to Danielle Cronje, a coordinator with the Durbanville Victim Empowerment Programme (VEP).

The trauma room is a place where victims of crime can receive counselling and support, according to the Durbanville Community Police Forum’s Facebook page.

“We urgently need someone to assist with the restoration of the electrical work at the Fisantekraal trauma room,” said fellow VEP coordinator. Hennie Odendaal. “The robbers ripped out all the light switches and plugs. As for items, we need to get a kettle, a mini fridge and a microwave as the bare minimum to at least make victims a cup of coffee/tea or to make some noodles to eat.”

He said the VEP’s role was to cushion victims of crime from secondary trauma while the police were busy with their investigation.

Thanks to donations, the Fisantekraal trauma room has new floors and plumbing, and it was recently given a fresh coat of paint. However, the support group now hopes to revamp the trauma room at the Durbanville police station. According to Mr Odendaal, it is in dire need of maintenance.

“The whole structure needs to be replaced. It was repaired about four years ago, but but the structure itself is in a horrible state. The walls are starting to pull apart at the seams and the structure is very old.”

Durbanville police and the Durbanville Community Police Forum did not respond to questions by time of publication.

Contact Danielle Cronje at email vep247365@gmail.com for more information about the trauma rooms.