Emergency medical services in Hong Kong

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Ambulance Services in Hong Kong are provided by the Hong Kong Fire Services, in co-operation with two other voluntary organisations, the Auxiliary Medical Service and the Hong Kong St. John Ambulance.

Public hospitals have charged HK$100 for treatment at accident and emergency departments since 2002. About 2.2 million use the service each year. Waiting time varies between one hour and more than five hours. In 2017 it was decided to increase the cost to HK$180 with an expansion of the fee waiver mechanism. The actual cost per patient is about HK$1,230.[when?][1] HK$1,390 in 2017-2018[2]

The ambulance service from the Hong Kong Fire Service pledges to have an arrival of an ambulance at the street address from the time of call within 12 minutes.[3]

Organisation

The Hong Kong Fire Service is the statutory provider of emergency ambulance service in Hong Kong, as mandated by

Accident and Emergency departments. The service follows the Anglo-American model (as opposed to the Franco-German model)[6]
of EMS service provision. It is rare to see a physician at the scene of an emergency.

The statutory service is supplemented by two organisations –

St. John Ambulance, a charity organisation and the Auxiliary Medical Service
, a government-run voluntary service. Both of these services focus primarily on providing coverage to special events, and on public education, although both have written agreements with the statutory service to provide additional ambulances during a disaster.

Air Ambulance

Government Flying Service Helicopter, used for air ambulance and also search & rescue

In Hong Kong, all

medevac
flight from a ship. It used to have ambulance crew with basic life support equipment from Hong Kong Fire Service Department (HKFSD) abroad when mission needed. Under the "Air Medical Officer" (AMO) programme, helicopters are equipped with advanced medical apparatus and medical personnel from GFS Auxiliary Section can administer emergency treatment in the air since 2000. GFS Auxiliary Section is a group of 24 volunteer doctors and 27 volunteer nurses from hospitals who specialised in Accident and Emergency (A&E) medicine. Enlisted as auxiliary officers, they operate as part of the aircrew on non-risky rescue missions during 09:30–18:30 at weekends (Fri-Mon) and public holidays when the majority of recreational accidents occur. This programme aims to provide a higher level of medical care to the injured right on the spot and during transit to hospital. During 2011, the flight doctors and nurses flew a total of 405 hours in 573 operations. Nowadays, the programme is not enough to support current heavy demand on air medical emergency basis 24x7, 365 days a year. To be qualified as flight paramedic, some of standing Air Crewman Officers (ACMO) is recently receiving pre-hospital care training from Hospital Authority (HA) as well as Hong Kong Fire Service Department.

Standards

Vehicles

The majority of ambulances in Hong Kong are originally of British design; a reflection of Hong Kong's long association with Britain. As a result, the design of the majority of ambulances approximately corresponds to the

Defibrillators (AED
).

  • Typical EMS Vehicles in Hong Kong
  • Hong Kong Fire Service ambulance, in its updated yellow livery
    Hong Kong Fire Service ambulance, in its updated yellow livery
  • Hong Kong Fire Service rapid response vehicle
    Hong Kong Fire Service rapid response vehicle
  • Hong Kong Fire Service mobile casualty treatment centre, a kind of ambulance bus
    Hong Kong Fire Service mobile casualty treatment centre, a kind of ambulance bus
  • Hong Kong Fire Services ambulance BMW R1200RT
    Hong Kong Fire Services ambulance BMW R1200RT
  • An ambulance of the People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison, in which it also operates its internal medical and sanitary system
    An ambulance of the
    People's Liberation Army Hong Kong Garrison
    , in which it also operates its internal medical and sanitary system
  • Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (Second Generation) Auxiliary Medical Services Ambulance
    Mercedes-Benz Sprinter (Second Generation) Auxiliary Medical Services Ambulance
  • Mercedes-Benz Sprinter St John Ambulance
    Mercedes-Benz Sprinter St John Ambulance
  • A Mercedes-Benz Axor truck belonging to the Hong Kong Fire Services Department
    A Mercedes-Benz Axor truck belonging to the Hong Kong Fire Services Department

Training and staffing

Although the Hong Kong Fire Service maintains that its ambulances provide

Basic Life Support level of training. An additional two weeks of training is provided to motorcycle operators. Once training is completed and a suitable amount of experience is obtained, the candidate will be provided with an additional six weeks of training, elevating them to the Intermediate level. This training is conducted in co-operation with the Justice Institute of British Columbia, and has been granted equivalency.[11] Hong Kong has aspirations to offer full ALS services, and have recently completed a study of how such services are trained and provided internationally.[12]

Dispatch

As with many things in Hong Kong, the dispatch of emergency vehicles continues to be influenced by the British legacy. The telephone number for emergency services throughout Hong Kong is 999, just as in Britain. All 999 calls are answered by the Hong Kong Police Force. If an ambulance is the only response required, the call is passed directly to Hong Kong Fire Services dispatchers. If the call information is complex, as with a traffic accident, the police dispatchers will notify the ambulance service when they suspect that ambulances might be required. Both ambulances and fire apparatus are co-dispatched by the Hong Kong Fire Service dispatchers.[13] The system operates technologies and decision support software that are approximately equivalent with those found in Europe and North America.

Response times

The objective of the Hong Kong Fire Service is to have an ambulance on the scene of an emergency within twelve minutes of receiving the request, 24 hours per day. They are currently achieving that objective on more than 93 percent of all emergency calls. The current dispatch system in Hong Kong does not categorise ambulance calls by medical acuity, although there are plans to introduce this measure in the future.[14]

See also

Hong Kong's Emergency Services

References

  1. ^ "Higher charges can ease burden on A & E wards at public hospitals". South China Morning Post. 21 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  2. ^ https://www.legco.gov.hk/research-publications/english/1819in05-emergency-care-services-in-selected-places-20190131-e.pdf
  3. ^ "Performance Pledge". Hong Kong Fire Services Department. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
  4. ^ "Hong Kong: The Facts (HKFS website) 1" (PDF). Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  5. ^ "Hong Kong: The Facts (HKFS website) 2" (PDF). Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  6. S2CID 31020961
    .
  7. ^ "Government Flying Service website". Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  8. ^ "European Committee for Standards website". Retrieved 19 September 2008.,
  9. ^ "Full Implementation of Paramedic Ambulance Service (HKFS document)". Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  10. ^ "Duties of an Ambulance Man/Woman (HKFS website)". Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  11. PMID 11025847
    .
  12. ^ "International EMS Survey 1". Retrieved 25 September 2008.
  13. PMID 11025847
    .
  14. ^ "How to Call an Ambulance (HKFS document)". Retrieved 25 September 2008.
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