What should you do if someone has a heart attack? Hong Kong 999 callers to get first aid advice on 32 problems to help patients before emergency services arrive
Control officers will keep caller on line and provide simple and direct information using new computer system to help stabilise patient
Callers to Hong Kong’s 999 emergency service will receive first aid advice over the phone for 32 common situations or illnesses so they can help patients before first responders arrive.
The city’s fire service – which deals with calls for ambulances, as well as for firefighters – was from Thursday rolling out a new international computer system to run the service.
Rather than hanging up after sending an ambulance, officers of the fire services communications centre will follow protocols using new software and ask the caller questions to understand the patient’s condition. The information will also be sent to the ambulance crew called out.
Yeung Yan-kin, assistant director of the Fire Services Department, said control officers would keep callers on the line and give immediate first aid advice – in Cantonese, Mandarin or English – to help stabilise the patient based on the injury or condition.
“The advice is simple and direct … This prevents further deterioration [in condition] so as to increase survival rates. It also reduces the chances of callers mishandling the patients,” Yeung said on Thursday, adding that it could ease the anxiety and distress of both caller and patient.
Since May 2011, the department has offered first aid advice to callers for six problems, ranging from bleeding to hypothermia.