<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Private ambulances to boost SCDF fleet
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Two firms will provide vehicles to respond to 995 calls </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Carolyn Quek & Kimberly Spykerman
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A nurse inside an ambulance at Lentor Ambulances, one of two firms selected by the SCDF. -- ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A COMPANY dealing with GPS products and fitness equipment has been picked as one of two private firms to help beef up the fleet of emergency ambulances here.
Unistrong Technology, which has been in business since 2004, decided to go into the ambulance service business only after Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng announced in March 2007 a plan to turn to private companies to supplement the Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF) fleet.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Emergency callers to get more help during the wait
STARTING this month, callers to the 995 emergency line will be given some basic first aid instructions while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
This is part of the new Medical Protocol System that the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is rolling out to enhance its emergency patient care.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Unistrong has since bought six ambulances at a total cost of about $1.2 million and is in the process of hiring 24 employees to man these vehicles.
The other firm selected by the SCDF is Lentor Ambulances, which has been in the business for six years and has a fleet of eight non-emergency ambulances.
It has bought another eight new vehicles at a cost of about $800,000 and is also hiring staff now.
Starting in June, each firm will provide five ambulances to respond to emergency calls to '995'.
At a press conference yesterday, SCDF's operations director, Colonel Anwar Abdullah, was quick to assure the public that the service provided by these two private firms will match that of the SCDF.
The equipment in the ambulances will be similar to that in SCDF vehicles and its paramedics and nurses will have to be equally well-trained.
The private ambulance crew will also have to be trained paramedics, who have either received training from SCDF before or graduated with a Higher Nitec in Paramedic and Emergency Care - a joint venture between SCDF and ITE.
Even drivers, once selected, will have to undergo emergency vehicle driving training conducted by SCDF.
The 10 ambulances will have to live up to the same response time of 11 minutes set for SCDF ambulances.
The SCDF will also put the two firms through certification tests and audits every six months.
The private ambulances will be based at the busier fire stations and operate from Monday to Saturday from 8am to 8pm - traditional peak periods for emergency ambulance calls.
The SCDF now has 40 ambulances, but the strain on these has been mounting in recent years as emergency calls continue to escalate due to a growing and ageing population.
=> 40 lan cheow ambulances for a population of 5.5M! WTF is happening? Where is our money? And the BEST PAID PeeM is shameless enough to ask for 1 MM, 2 SMs, 2 DPMs and even more ministers without porfolio to hand hold him?
[COLOR=_______]Emergency calls have almost doubled from 60,300 cases in 1995 to last year's 117,896 cases.[/COLOR] SCDF projections indicate that by 2030, the number of such calls will hit 235,000.
Col Anwar said it was not possible for SCDF to increase its fleet 'infinitely', with cost being a key factor.
=> But FTrash influx can go on forever?
The fact that there were existing resources in the private ambulance sector was another consideration. All they needed was to beef up their competencies, he added.
Unistrong and Lentor were chosen from among six shortlisted companies.
SCDF said they were chosen because of their capability and subsequent expansion plans to cater for increases in emergency cases. Their three-year contract is estimated to be worth between $5 million and $7 million.
They will be paid for every emergency call they respond to. Both companies and the SCDF declined to reveal the exact amount.
Unistrong, the new kid in the ambulance industry, was confident it will be up to the task.
Before bidding for the tender, the firm did thorough research, speaking to doctors, hospitals and even researching how emergency ambulances were run overseas, said its general manager Edward Teo, 54.
'Private ambulance operators are no different from us. They have also not handled emergency calls before, so it's a new challenge for everybody,' he said.
Lentor's chief operating officer Jonathan Koh, 50, said that although he was surprised by the fact that his firm clinched the contract above other big names in the industry, he felt that Lentor's edge was in its commitment to constantly upgrade the skills of its staff.
[email protected] [email protected]
</TR><!-- headline one : end --><TR>Two firms will provide vehicles to respond to 995 calls </TR><!-- Author --><TR><TD class="padlrt8 georgia11 darkgrey bold" colSpan=2>By Carolyn Quek & Kimberly Spykerman
</TD></TR><!-- show image if available --><TR vAlign=bottom><TD width=330>
</TD><TD width=10>
A nurse inside an ambulance at Lentor Ambulances, one of two firms selected by the SCDF. -- ST PHOTO: ALBERT SIM
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>
<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->A COMPANY dealing with GPS products and fitness equipment has been picked as one of two private firms to help beef up the fleet of emergency ambulances here.
Unistrong Technology, which has been in business since 2004, decided to go into the ambulance service business only after Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng announced in March 2007 a plan to turn to private companies to supplement the Singapore Civil Defence Force's (SCDF) fleet.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Emergency callers to get more help during the wait
STARTING this month, callers to the 995 emergency line will be given some basic first aid instructions while waiting for the ambulance to arrive.
This is part of the new Medical Protocol System that the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is rolling out to enhance its emergency patient care.
</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>Unistrong has since bought six ambulances at a total cost of about $1.2 million and is in the process of hiring 24 employees to man these vehicles.
The other firm selected by the SCDF is Lentor Ambulances, which has been in the business for six years and has a fleet of eight non-emergency ambulances.
It has bought another eight new vehicles at a cost of about $800,000 and is also hiring staff now.
Starting in June, each firm will provide five ambulances to respond to emergency calls to '995'.
At a press conference yesterday, SCDF's operations director, Colonel Anwar Abdullah, was quick to assure the public that the service provided by these two private firms will match that of the SCDF.
The equipment in the ambulances will be similar to that in SCDF vehicles and its paramedics and nurses will have to be equally well-trained.
The private ambulance crew will also have to be trained paramedics, who have either received training from SCDF before or graduated with a Higher Nitec in Paramedic and Emergency Care - a joint venture between SCDF and ITE.
Even drivers, once selected, will have to undergo emergency vehicle driving training conducted by SCDF.
The 10 ambulances will have to live up to the same response time of 11 minutes set for SCDF ambulances.
The SCDF will also put the two firms through certification tests and audits every six months.
The private ambulances will be based at the busier fire stations and operate from Monday to Saturday from 8am to 8pm - traditional peak periods for emergency ambulance calls.
The SCDF now has 40 ambulances, but the strain on these has been mounting in recent years as emergency calls continue to escalate due to a growing and ageing population.
=> 40 lan cheow ambulances for a population of 5.5M! WTF is happening? Where is our money? And the BEST PAID PeeM is shameless enough to ask for 1 MM, 2 SMs, 2 DPMs and even more ministers without porfolio to hand hold him?
[COLOR=_______]Emergency calls have almost doubled from 60,300 cases in 1995 to last year's 117,896 cases.[/COLOR] SCDF projections indicate that by 2030, the number of such calls will hit 235,000.
Col Anwar said it was not possible for SCDF to increase its fleet 'infinitely', with cost being a key factor.
=> But FTrash influx can go on forever?
The fact that there were existing resources in the private ambulance sector was another consideration. All they needed was to beef up their competencies, he added.
Unistrong and Lentor were chosen from among six shortlisted companies.
SCDF said they were chosen because of their capability and subsequent expansion plans to cater for increases in emergency cases. Their three-year contract is estimated to be worth between $5 million and $7 million.
They will be paid for every emergency call they respond to. Both companies and the SCDF declined to reveal the exact amount.
Unistrong, the new kid in the ambulance industry, was confident it will be up to the task.
Before bidding for the tender, the firm did thorough research, speaking to doctors, hospitals and even researching how emergency ambulances were run overseas, said its general manager Edward Teo, 54.
'Private ambulance operators are no different from us. They have also not handled emergency calls before, so it's a new challenge for everybody,' he said.
Lentor's chief operating officer Jonathan Koh, 50, said that although he was surprised by the fact that his firm clinched the contract above other big names in the industry, he felt that Lentor's edge was in its commitment to constantly upgrade the skills of its staff.
[email protected] [email protected]
