Private operators to add 10 emergency vehicles to support SCDF
fleet of 40.
TEN more emergency ambulances, manned by paramedics from private
companies, are expected to hit Singapore roads from June.
The added resources will help support the Singapore Civil
Defence Force's (SCDF) fleet of 40 vehicles, as emergency calls
continue to climb due to an ageing and growing population.
The SCDF's plan to open up some of its emergency ambulance
services to the private sector is a move away from the current
practice where these companies only handle non-emergency cases.
Using them for emergency ambulance cases also means that private
operators can be counted on to help out in a mass casualty
situation, the SCDF said.
When the topic was raised two years ago, Commissioner James Tan
said costs and manpower were the reasons why the SCDF could not
'just keep buying' more ambulances.
Chief medical officer Tan Eng Hoe said yesterday that six
operators responded to the tender which was called last month and
by next month, details of who had made the cut would be announced.
'We will choose either one or two operators, depending on what they
offer,' Dr Tan said.
The SCDF has also clarified that there will be no differences in
the look, competency of the crew or the equipment available,
regardless of which ambulance responds.
'Safeguards and stringent measures will be put in place to
ensure that the ambulance service delivery standard will not be
compromised,' the SCDF said yesterday at a briefing on its fire and
ambulance statistics.
Just like their SCDF counterparts, the performance of private
ambulance crew members will be assessed every four months. They
will also have to take half-yearly proficiency tests.
The winning operator's first step will be to have its crew
follow SCDF's paramedics for on-the-job training.
The private ambulances will also be placed at fire stations
under the command of the SCDF. Details about how the operators will
be paid will be announced at a later date, the SCDF said.
Hope Ambulance Services, one of the private operators in the
running for the tender told The Straits Times that opening up
emergency services is a welcome change. 'Whether we get the tender
or not, we're happy that Singapore is taking this step towards
making more emergency ambulance services available to the public,'
said its operations director, Ms Theresa Yeap, 39.
The SCDF said using private ambulance operators would also help
alleviate the stress its current fleet faces.
Last year, there were 111,127 emergency calls made to the SCDF,
9 per cent more than in 2007. Of these, more than 70 per cent of
them were for medical emergency cases such as those involving chest
pains or heart attacks.
Non-emergency calls saw what the SCDF called a 'healthy drop' of
42 per cent to 2,481 calls last year. The dip was attributed to
greater public awareness.
The 1777 non-emergency hotline saw a corresponding rise of more
than 250 calls to 5,732 calls last year.
'A further drop in such cases would benefit the community since
more resources can then be channelled towards the emergency
life-threatening cases,' the SCDF said.
-- ST (29/1/2009)