The Emergency Medical Services (EMS) provides life-saving assistance to people from all walks of life in Singapore.
If they find themselves overwhelmed, it could have fatal consequences for those who need urgent medical help.
That’s why it’s dangerous that the number of emergency calls increased to an average of 750 per day in the first week of December.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF). said that there might be delays in ambulance response if this keeps up.
In a Facebook post shared on Thursday (7 Dec), SCDF said they fielded an average of 750 calls to the 995 hotline per day in the first week of December.
This is about 100 more than the daily average recorded from July to September 2023.
If the number of emergency calls continues to increase, this will put a strain on the manpower available to SCDF.
Thus, SCDF warned that the public might experience delays in ambulance response.
This is especially so if the medical incident is “less critical”, they said.
That’s because SCDF must continue to give priority to actual emergencies due to limited resources.
Almost 5% of medical calls to the 995 hotline are non-emergencies, SCDF said.
Thus, the public can help by not calling 995 when the medical incident at hand is non-critical. Instead, they could visit a nearby clinic.
This will ensure that SCDF can provide swift help to genuine emergency cases.
A critical case is defined as one that is life-threatening. Examples include:
Here’s the full list from SCDF:
Source: SCDF on Facebook
That means simply having a high fever is not a critical illness.
SCDF is monitoring the situation closely.
To alleviate the situation, they have put in place certain measures, including:
Otherwise, 995 call takers, paramedics, and frontliners are doing their best to send genuine emergency cases to the hospital as quickly as possible.
The increase in emergency calls is concerning.
Considering Singapore has recorded our highest weekly number of Covid-19 cases in the week ending 2 Dec, this development could further strain Singapore’s healthcare system.
We thank our healthcare heroes for their service and pray they will stand steadfast in the face of the onslaught.
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Featured image from MS News.
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