SCDF private ambulance operators (PAOs)
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SCDF engages private ambulance operators
Come 1st June, Singapore will have more ambulances to respond to emergency calls.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force has engaged two private operators to provide support to its Emergency Ambulance Service or EAS.
The Private Ambulance Operators or PAOs will be adding ten more ambulances to the current EAS fleet of 40.
SCDF says the initiative aims to cater to the rising number of EAS calls it receives every year.
This increase is attributed to the country's rapidly ageing population.
SCDF projected that by 2030, the number of EAS calls it receives will almost double to more than 230,000 annually.
It responded to nearly 120,000 calls last year.
To help cope with this increased demand, the two selected PAOs -- Unistrong Technology and Lentor Ambulance -- will each be providing five brand new ambulances and fifteen additional crew members to the current EAS team.
Each ambulance will be manned by a driver, a medic and a paramedic.
Jonathan Koh, who's the Chief Operating Officer of Lentor Ambulance says his company has put aside about half a million dollars for the five ambulances.
He will also be recruiting more employees to support the EAS team.
" We have already advertised. We are planning to recruit about 24 people. The driver, the paramedic's assistant, the paramedic. And most of the paramedics, they've already gone through the one-year Higher NITEC courses with ITEs and the Civil Defence. In the tender document, they have specified they will assign at least five calls per vehicle per day for us. So for five vehicles, we will have a total of 25 calls."
SCDF's Operations Director, Colonel Anwar Abdullah says the two PAOs were handpicked from a pool of six companies that submitted their tenders last December.
The force awarded both of them with a three-year contract and the companies also have an option to extend it for an additional two years.
Colonel Anwar assures the public that the PAOs will be just as capable as the SCDF's EAS team.
"We will be closely monitoring their performance. There are audit systems which we have already introduced to ensure that the competencies are all maintained. The paramedics and the other emergency personnel, they need to pass their competency tests every six months."
The PAOs will only be operating during the peak periods for ambulance calls, namely from Monday to Saturday, between 8am and 8pm.
SCDF will be also rolling out a new call-taking framework on the 15th of April to further enhance its current emergency ambulance service.
The Medical Protocol System or MPS will make use of computer-aided technology to better process emergency calls.
Under the new initiative, operators will ask callers a set of pre-approved medical questions pertaining to their chief complaints.
Colonel Anwar says, this will allow the operators to diagnose the patients' conditions before the ambulance arrives.
"It helps the operator to derive critical information when we receive calls from the public. This information will enable our operators to diagnose the condition of the casualty and at the same time will relay this information to the paramedics enroute to attend to the case."
Colonel Anwar says, these questions will not affect the time taken for an ambulance to be deployed to a scene.
It will still be dispatched within one minute after information such as the patient's location and contact number have been ascertained.
The MPS will start its two-week trial run starting tomorrow.
--938Live
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These kind of things also can outsource one meh?
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any idea which stations they will be based at?
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The 2 PAOs who got the deal to help SCDF should have Large size ambulances like SCDF to deal with 995 calls..All ex & current SCDF medics should know working in a converted Nissan or Toyota Van does not have "Space" to work in, esp in StandBy cases...
But, anyway, till pics of the PAOs ambulance fleet is out for us to see, i will not say so much. As mention by SCDF in news, Lentor & Unistrong bought new ambulances. So, just have to wait till these PAOs turn out for 995 calls, then we can see what type of vehicle they are using...
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Originally posted by sir_peanuts:
any idea which stations they will be based at?
the private ambulances will be based at the busier fire stations & my guess would be central fire station being one of them..
operating hrs are from Monday - Saturday from 0800hrs to 2000hrs which is the traditional peak periods for emergency ambulance calls..
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the current ambulance by ST kinetics is in line with the standard of the star of life as an emergency ambulance.
does the local regulations require such standards for an emergency ambulance?
in such a case, the PAOs should purchase ambulance of such a standard?
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I'm sure PAOs will buy bigger ambulances from the current fleet they are using.
Current Toyota & Nissan vans coverted to Ambulances are not able to ops as Emergency Ambulances as space inside is not good for work of paramedics dealing wz Emer cases.
Just 4 weeks more to go, lets wait and see what Unistrong & Lentor has for their Emer Amb fleet.. What brand will they use, June 1st, we will know.
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if there is a local standard for emergency ambulances, i think it will more or less be the same model from SCDF and perhaps a similar livery ala cisco and aetos vehicles compared to spf.
hoping it will be something different?
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I'm hoping that they will get the Mercedes-Benz sprinters..
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i just took a look at hkfs88's photo album, looks like the HKFS ambulances have the same body as SCDF? same body by ST Kinetics?
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I believe you're referring to the 416CDI..
if I'm not wrong, STK did the bodywork for them..
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should be the one you are reffering to since its the same body work...
unistrong is a brand new start up....
wow i guess SCDF took the 2 lowest bidders??
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might not be the lowest bidders..
even if it is, as long they perform on par with the scdf eas crew then the cost is not a problem..
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do u have any idea how much an SCDF vehicle costs?
news reports seem to indicate that one of the PAO's ambulances cost about 200k
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not really sure about the exact cost..
but during my medic time, I spotted this cost label for a much older sprinter ambulance which was the 314CDI, the cost stated was about 200K+..
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LoL, should be the sprinter then? since urvan or hiace dont cost that much?
besides, i think emergency ambulances have to have an external cab mounted on instead of the nomal cab.
1 more month an it should be out on the streets? haha
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external cab meaning..
u mean the "box like" ambulances like those on the current scdf mercedes-benz sprinters..
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ya. external mounted cab on chasis
i stumble upon this directive which the current STK ambulances adhere to.
http://www.scribd.com/doc/6205332/Federal-Specification-for-the-StarofLife-Ambulance
and the local directive which is prolly outdated but doesnt touch much on the issue of vehicle type
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thanks for providing some useful info..
I've briefly read through them & its not that very outdated as we're still using more or less of the same items as stated in the directive..
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i saw a lentor ambulance today. its livery has been updated to one that's similar to SCDF, but it's using a nissan urvan which i think is seriously too small.
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Originally posted by sir_peanuts:
i saw a lentor ambulance today. its livery has been updated to one that's similar to SCDF, but it's using a nissan urvan which i think is seriously too small.
I shall keep an eye out for the nissan urvan ambulance used by Lentor, as the article mentioned they will be using 5 brand new ambulances, so I need to take note of the plate no. to check if its registered recently. If possible, do take note of the plate no. for me the next time you get to spot it again..
Well, it all boils down to cost & to get a much bigger van plus the retrofitting will cost the private operators but 1st June is fast approaching, can't wait to see them on the roads attending to 995 calls..
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i guess they wont be numbered according th SCDF numbers then?
for eg, 111 etc...
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Originally posted by Pitot:
i guess they wont be numbered according th SCDF numbers then?
for eg, 111 etc...
not too sure but keep a lookout for them this 1st June..
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Originally posted by sir_peanuts:
i saw a lentor ambulance today. its livery has been updated to one that's similar to SCDF, but it's using a nissan urvan which i think is seriously too small.
Oh isitz? I must keep a lookout for this ambulance.. Lentor likes to standby @ TTSH during non-call time..maybe can see this updated livery there..but using a Nissan ?? It's too small to use for 995 calls.