SCDF paramedics to get emergency care training in hospitals
SINGAPORE: The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) and SingHealth are working together to improve the skills of paramedics in responding to different kinds of emergencies.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed on Wednesday (Jan 11). Under the six-year deal, 250 SCDF paramedics will undergo attachments at the emergency departments of the Singapore General Hospital (SGH) and KK Women's and Children's Hospital (KKH).
The training will focus on clinical documentation, handover of patients to the hospital's emergency care teams, as well as pre-hospital assessment and treatment, said SingHealth. It added that a major part of the training will be conducted under simulated emergency and resuscitation scenarios at the SingHealth Duke-NUS Institute of Medical Simulation (SIMS), which was launched on Wednesday.
As for more senior paramedics, group of about 40 of them will undergo a programme to be trained as clinical instructors and educators.
Separately, more nurses will be seconded to SCDF's 995 Operations Centre.
"This MoU is a significant milestone and testament to our continued efforts to improve pre-hospital emergency care so that more lives can be saved," said SingHealth's group CEO Professor Ivy Ng.
One area of concern is to meet the growing needs of Singapore's ageing population.
SCDF said the partnership with SingHealth will help it enhance its "geriatric-ready emergency medical services to address the evolving needs of our community," said Commissioner of SCDF Eric Yap.
Moving forward, there are also plans to create a national paramedic educator training programme to support professional development in the sector, said SingHealth and SCDF. More details will be announced at a later date.
- CNA/ek