Abuse of ambulance services more common in 2019

During 2019, the Fire Services Bureau (CB) ambulance service responded to more calls for ambulances due to an increase in reports of fever, stomach ache, and dizziness, among other symptoms.

In 2019, 41,958 calls for ambulances were answered, representing an annual increase of 5.2% compared to 39,883 calls in 2018.

From 2015 to 2019, the number of calls for ambulances have grown continuously. In addition to marking the fifth consecutive year of growth, 2019 also recorded the sharpest increase over the last five years.

According to the CB commissioner, Leong Iok Sam, between January and June of last year, more people called for ambulance services for fever, dizziness, and stomach ache.

Leong urged the public not to misuse the CB’s ambulance services. According to the CB commissioner, the bureau maintains its own statistics of ambulance misuse. However, he did not reveal the numbers, having claimed that it is difficult for ambulance officers to determine whether a case is a misuse of the ambulance service or not, as a medical professional’s judgment is needed to make that determination.

Nonetheless, he revealed that the misuse of ambulance services has remained steady in recent years.

Besides firefighting and the dispatch of ambulances, the CB also offers special services, including unlocking doors and rescuing entrapped victims.

In 2019, the CB handled 239 cases of people trapped in lifts and provided assistance in order to open doors in 408 cases. These two numbers in total represent 46.5% of the total number of special services the CB provided in 2019.

On Tuesday, an explosion occurred at a petrochemical plant in Zhuhai. Leong said that the CB remains in communication with the Zhuhai government regarding the explosion.

The commissioner of the CB told local media that, after being made aware of Tuesday’s explosion, the CB immediately contacted the relevant Zhuhai departments in order to be informed of the situation. According to the commissioner, as of noon yesterday, the Zhuhai government was still working to clean up in the aftermath of explosion.

The situation at the petrochemical plant is currently under control and has not resulted in any injuries. The CB will review the speed of communication between fire service authorities in Macau and Zhuhai.

In addition, updates were provided on Macau’s handling of the Wuhan pneumonia outbreak. Currently, across various borders, and at the airport, CB will make a record of people with recent Wuhan travel history and who develop fever as potential cases. As of yesterday, four people, who were suspected of having Wuhan flu, were transferred from the CB.