Striving for fast response to emergencies

NST: KUALA LUMPUR: The emergency response times of Malaysian ambulances are still slow.
The average times — from the call to the time the ambulance reaches the victim — should be between 10 and 15 minutes.
"Anything more than 15 minutes is unacceptable," said Director-General of Health Tan Sri Dr Ismail Merican.
He added that even this was slow compared with Western countries which had a benchmark of seven to eight minutes.
But not all agencies in Kuala Lumpur dash to their victims within 15 minutes.
The Civil Defence Department’s (JPA3) response time is less than 30 minutes from its headquarters on Jalan Ampang.
The Malaysian Red Crescent (MRCS) response time is about 20 minutes from its headquarters on Jalan Ampang, while the University Malaya Medical Centre’s is between 10 and 45 minutes from Jalan University, Petaling Jaya.
St John Ambulans Malaysia (SJAM) says its response time is about 15 minutes within a five kilometre radius.
SJAM, MRCS, UMMC and JPA3 blame the traffic and lack of co-operation from motorists for the delay in arriving at emergency scenes.
SJAM’s regional commander for the Federal Territory Dr Lee Hoo Teong said many motorists do not move out of the way despite the sirens when it rained.
The Civil Defence Department in Kuala Lumpur plans to introduce a motorcycle squad next year to buy time until the ambulance arrives.
The MRCS was the first to start a motorcycle squad service for medical emergency in 1997. The SJAM started a similar squad last year.
Some agencies admitted that the delay in arriving at the emergency site was also due to poor communication and weakness in the emergency hotline (999 and 991) service.
Dr Lee said there was a lack of communication among agencies and this leads to either no ambulance arriving, or too many attending to one emergency case.
The problems in the emergency hotline service could be one reason why Johor 991 calls sometimes end up in Malacca, said Johor JPA3 director Che Osman Hussin.
"I believe we should have one central number just for Johor so that the agencies can handle the emergency cases efficiently," he said.
The thousands of ringgit needed for ambulance maintenance and rising petrol costs make it difficult for non-profit organisations, such as the SJAM and MRCS, to respond to medical emergencies.
Dr Lee said SJAM spent RM2,000 a month on petrol and about RM400 to RM500 on vehicle maintenance.
"It is difficult for us to sustain as we receive, at most, about RM1,000 in funds monthly," he said.
MRCS secretary-general Datuk Abu Hassan Salleh appealed to the public for funds to buy more ambulances to cope with the increasing number of cases.
Penang general hospital physician handling the medical emergency department, Dr Teo Aik Howe said, however, that the strategic location of the agencies responding to the emergency calls was more important than the number of ambulances they had.
"When an emergency call comes in, the first thing we have to know is who is nearest to the victim," he said.
The Penang Hospital has four ambulances, while the JPA3 also has four and the SJAM has just one.
The JPA3 handles about 30 cases daily in George Town and Butterworth on the mainland.
The Penang Hospital handles about 19 cases daily in areas within a 20km radius from Jalan Residensi in George Town.
It used to handle cases in Bayan Lepas on the south of Penang but recently brought in the SJAM to handle those cases under the Emas Project, a community-driven initiative.
Residents in Cameron Highlands can call their Hospital Desa in Tanah Rata directly instead of calling ‘991’, said Ellangovan Nadarajah, who sits on the hospital’s advisory board.
He said the hospital had three ambulances that not only responded to emergency cases but also ferried critically ill patients to the Ipoh General Hospital when the need arose.