Increase In Emergency Calls Over Past Few Weeks, SCDF Warns Of Ambulance Response Delays
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 has been increasing to an average of 760 per day.
The public has thus been urged to call 995 only for life-threatening or emergency cases.
High of 810 calls in 1 day
In a Facebook post on Friday (8 Jul), the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) released some alarming statistics.
In the first week of July, they fielded 760 emergency calls per day on average.
On at least one day, they received a high of 810 emergency calls.
SCDF emergency calls have been on upward trend since April
In fact, the number of emergency calls has been on an upward trend since April.
According to an SCDF chart, the figure went down from a high of 890 in February to about 600 in April.
But April saw a steady increase till June, then a steep rise to early July.
Source: SCDF on Facebook
This is compared with the average number of calls per day before Covid-19, which was a relatively low 550.
SCDF warns of delays in ambulance response
If the number of emergency calls continues to increase, the available manpower will be strained.
Thus, SCDF warned that the public might experience delays in ambulance response.
This is especially if the medical incident is “less critical”, they said.
Don’t call 995 for non-critical incidents
The public can help by not calling 995 when the medical incident at hand is non-critical.
This will ensure SCDF can provide swift help to genuine emergency cases.
A critical case is defined as one that is life-threatening or involves emergency medical services.
Examples are breathlessness, drowsiness, severe bleeding from injuries, or loss of consciousness.
Here’s the full list by SCDF:
Source: SCDF on Facebook
That means simply having a high fever is not a critical illness.
SCDF to manage rise in emergency calls
To alleviate the situation, SCDF has put in place certain measures, including:
- ambulance deployment will be optimised and adjusted accordingly to areas with a high rate of emergency calls
- the response to critical life-threatening medical emergencies (i.e. those listed above) will continue to be prioritised
- if a patient is assessed by paramedics to have a non-emergency medical condition, they won’t be sent to the hospital
Otherwise, 995 call takers, paramedics and frontliners are doing their best to send genuine emergency cases to the hospital as quickly as possible.
Hope healthcare heroes stand steadfast
The unexplained increase in emergency calls is concerning.
Having hopefully survived the worst of Covid-19, this is, unfortunately, yet another development that’s straining Singapore’s healthcare system.
We thank our healthcare heroes for their service and pray they will stand steadfast in the face of the onslaught.
In the meantime, we should avoid calling for an ambulance unless someone truly needs it.
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Featured image from MS News.
