Going by the recent report of shortages of hospital beds, it is
obvious that we are prepared for any terrorist attack and are
ill-equipped to save the wounded should such a disaster
occurs.
There was a report in the news last week about a woman having to
wait for 24 hours at TTSH before she could get a bed. Before that
she was simply lying on those trolley beds without even a pillow,
while others like here were put in the same crowded place. She
could not get a bed in B2, and not even all the other classes when
her daughter tried to, simply because all the beds are filled up.
Not even other hospitals e.g. SGH and NUH. According to the
hospitals, it is a seasonal thing that beds are hard to come by
during this peak period when many come down with flu and elderly
with pneumonia. They were even reporting a hospital bed take-up
rate of 80-90% !!
How then, can we cope with a terrorist attack, if the terrorists
are smart enough to attack at a time, the "seasonal" period in the
year when hospital beds are hard to come by?
I personally encountered this serious shortage of hospital beds
when my father was admitted. They had to put him in isolation ward
simply because there was no more bed, and my poor elderly mother
had to wheel him there herself because there was "manpower
shortage".
Well, there wouldn't be, perhaps, if they don't admit people
without checking properly. One day after my father was admitted, he
was discharged as the doctors couldn't do the necessary checks on
him as the lab was closed.
Why then, did they admit him unnecessarily? Is it to milk money out
of us??
Don't even get me started on the decaying standards of healthcare
here.
The truth remains though, that much more has to be done before
Singapore starts talking about being ready for terrorist
attacks.
Don't trumpet something untrue.
