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Government launches public consultation on Medical Priority Dispatch System (with video)
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     The Government today (July 3) launched a four-month public consultation on its proposal to introduce a Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS).  

     Deputy Secretary for Security, Ms Carol Yuen, said, "The main objective of introducing the MPDS is to enhance our emergency ambulance service and provide quicker response to patients in critical or life-threatening conditions."

     At present, the response time target of the emergency ambulance service is 12 minutes, which applies to all calls.  Irrespective whether the patients' conditions are critical, the Fire Services Communications Centre (FSCC) dispatches ambulances on a next-in-queue basis following the order the calls are taken.  The current dispatch system does not prioritise calls and handles them in accordance with their degree of urgency.

     Ms Yuen said, "Advanced ambulance services in more than 20 countries have already adopted a priority dispatch system to prioritise their response to ambulance calls in accordance with their degree of urgency.  The proposed MPDS helps differentiate the nature of sickness or injury and accords a quicker response to the more critical patients."

     "Under the proposal, incoming ambulance calls will be divided into three response modes.  Response 1 calls, which will be handled with priority, are those involving patients in critical or life-threatening conditions, such as a person having a heart attack, someone who is unconscious, or a victim in a serious car accident.  We propose to set the target response time to nine minutes in order to provide quicker response to these patients and enhance their chance of survival and recovery," she said.

     "According to the Government proposal, serious but non-life-threatening cases will be categorised as Response 2 calls and the response time target will be maintained at 12 minutes.  Non-acute cases will be categorised as Response 3 calls with a response time target of 20 minutes.  

     "We note that some countries or cities using a priority dispatch system have not set any target for non-acute calls.  We propose to set a specific response time target for non-acute calls to underline the Government's continued commitment to providing quality emergency ambulance services," she said.

     Under the new proposal, the Fire Services Department (FSD) will maintain its current performance pledge irrespective of the call categorisation.

     "In other words, the department will undertake to achieve the response time target in 92.5% of the cases for all the calls," Ms Yuen said.

     The Chief Ambulance Officer of FSD, Mr Mak Kwai-pui, said the proposed MPDS would allow ambulancemen to make more effective use of their professional skills and enable critical patients to receive timely professional pre-hospital medical treatment at the scene and during emergency transport to a hospital.

     "With the aid of the MPDS, Fire Services Department operators can readily identify a potentially life-threatening situation by asking callers a few essential yet simple questions," the Deputy Director of Fire Services, Mr Chan Chor-kam, said as he explained how the proposed system would operate.  

     "The most obvious and critical cases can be identified as early as the third entry question under the MPDS questioning protocol.

     "In the event that the patient or a passer-by who calls in on his behalf is not able to give clear or specific responses to the questions, FSD will strictly adhere to the overriding principle of "if in doubt, dispatch immediately". In other words, we will choose to err on the safe side, classify an uncertain call as a Response 1 call, and send an ambulance to the scene as soon as possible," Mr Chan said.

     He said that under the proposed MPDS, Fire Services Department operators would, after the dispatch of the nearest ambulance, stay on the line with the caller to provide some simple and easy to follow first-aid advice, such as applying direct pressure to a bleeding wound, avoiding movement of severely injured trauma patients, and cooling burns with water.

     If the introduction of MPDS was supported by the public, the Government would need two to three years to carry out the preparatory work, including public education, staff training, and system installation and testing.  The new dispatch system can be implemented in 2012 at the earliest.

     "To ensure the quality of service for the public upon the operation of the new dispatch system, FSD will provide effective training to staff.  Every FSCC operator will undergo the Emergency Medical Dispatcher Certification Course and be recertified regularly.  Frontline ambulance crew will also receive training to help them appreciate the improved mechanism of reassigning ambulances," Mr Chan said.  

     "FSD will also step up publicity efforts to explain to the community how the proposed MPDS will operate and encourage the public to make appropriate use of the emergency ambulance service.  For example, callers will be encouraged to refrain from exaggerating the urgency of their calls, so that patients in critical or life-threatening conditions can receive more timely treatment and be conveyed to a hospital as soon as possible," he said.

     Ms Yuen said the Security Bureau would carefully consider all the comments and views received during the consultation period.  Copies of the consultation document are available at the District Offices.  The document has also been uploaded to the websites of the Security Bureau and Fire Services Department:

(www.sb.gov.hk/eng/pub/mpds/consultation.htm)

(www.hkfsd.gov.hk/home/eng/mpds_consultation.html)
 
     People are welcome to forward their views and comments on or before November 3 to the Security Bureau by post (address: 6/F, East Wing, Central Government Offices, Lower Albert Road, Hong Kong), by fax (2523-4147) or via email (mpds_consultation@sb.gov.hk).



Ends/Friday, July 3, 2009
Issued at HKT 19:01

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