I was running on Table Mountain on Saturday morning when I came across a rescue operation for an American woman who had slipped and tumbled 15m down the mountain. It was a beautiful day, but the rocks were slippery after heavy rains recently and she wasn’t the only person hurt on the day.

Paramedics got to the scene first and were about to go up to get her when the rescue helicopter arrived on the scene. The chopper paramedics were winched down to the injured lady and she was later lifted out and taken to hospital. I believe she is stable with broken bones and head and spine injuries.

While I was watching the whole scene it was interesting to see how many people were involved and how little value a lot of them were adding. There were at least 7 emergency services vehicles on the scene including a huge fire engine. Once the helicopter arrived nobody left, they all just stuck around to watch.

I was sitting next to about 7 paramedics who were sitting around, chatting and taking photos of the helicopter. When a pretty reporter arrived they briefly (and unsuccessfully) concentrated their energy on getting her number. Everyone was still sitting around when I left after the helicopter had flown off.

They were fun guys and girls, but it all seemed like a waste of resources.