Where was the ambulance, health minister? – Malaysian Doctor

It is interesting to see how the Malaysian media and public relations divert attention from the real issue in an incident.

The health minister was injured in an accident in the North-South Expressway on November 20.

A news report said that he waited for 15 minutes before being transported by the Propel team to Alor Gajah Hospital. In the same report, he was quoted as saying that he now understood the problems faced by the public in getting help during an accident. His solution was to train and equip Propel personnel to manage the injured in an accident.

It’s a noble gesture but it’s not the treatment for the problem.

The problem faced by Malaysian public when involved in an accident is getting an ambulance to the scene and having the ambulance there in a short period.

Imagine a health minister who commands thousands of ambulances but who is unable to get one within 15 minutes of an accident. What more the Malaysian public.

He and his injured bodyguard were transferred to a specialist centre after three hours of the incident from a district hospital.

The press statement and solution offered by the minister seem to have forgotten the basic life-support principles of saving a life, which is applicable in any situation be it a trauma or medical emergency.

The first principle is getting help and activating the ambulance, followed by the provision of first aid while waiting for help to arrive and subsequently, moving to the advanced care of a health facility once help arrives.

Training Propel personnel is only going to achieve the provision of first aid. In treating trauma patients, all first aiders are thought the principle of immobilisation to prevent cervical and spinal injuries.

Transporting the seriously injured victim in a car or Propel vehicle, as experienced by the minister, , limits the capability to provide immobilisation and protection against further injuries.

Ambulance crew are trained to transport victims in a safe and efficient manner, using the principles of immobilisation. An equipped ambulance is the best vehicle in which to transport a victim.

Thus, if the accident involves more than two victims, then more than one ambulance is expected to be at the scene.

Any patient transported in a normal vehicle should be checked first for risk of injury by an ambulance crew. However, no trained ambulance responder will allow such transport of victims without weighing the risk of potential adverse outcome.

Training Propel personnel and providing them with equipment alone will not help the public. It is just a temporary measure.

Victims still need an ambulance with trained personnel at the scene within 15 minutes in order to make a difference between life and death. With this incident, the health minister should be looking into improving our ambulance service, not diverting attention to train Propel personnel only.

Thus the question, where was the ambulance health minister? Your bodyguard deserved better treatment.

* Malaysian Doctor reads The Malaysian Insider.