Lawmakers yesterday passed a non-binding motion opposing a government proposal to increase the arrival target of ambulances at an emergency from 12 minutes to up to 20 minutes
At yesterday's security panel meeting, a majority of legislators voiced reservations over the plan despite a government decision to delay the scheme until at least 2014.
Lawmaker Regina Ip Lau Suk-yee, the former security minister, said the Security Bureau should end the myth over computer programming for the proposed three-tier ambulance dispatch system.
Under the system, the ambulance call centre operator would ask structured questions about a patient's condition and then assign the case to one of three categories.
The decision on the category would hinge on a computerised recommendation based on urgency of a patient's medical condition as reflected by the caller's response to questions. The three categories are '1' for critical or life-threatening cases; '2' for serious but non-life-threatening cases; and '3' for non-acute cases. The target would be for an ambulance to arrive within nine, 12 and 20 minutes, respectively.
Ip said her maid had once called 999 saying she had high blood pressure and difficulty in breathing - as the result of a love affair.