Guest Comments by the Civic Exchange
(A Public-Policy Think-Tank)

HONG KONG -- Implementation of a Medical Priority Dispatch System (MPDS) here can help to save lives amid the heavy demand on ambulance services. This issue deserved high policy priority much earlier.

To implement MPDS expeditiously, the Security Bureau and Fire Services Department need the support of legislators to fund new hardware and software for the call centre, plus training, more ambulances and crew, plus public education.

Increasingly, MPDS is used around the world. Its integrity in helping to save lives isn’t in doubt, which is why it has clear support from Hong Kong medical professionals.

“Studies elsewhere show the survival rate for a cardiac-arrest patient could be three or four times higher with MPDS,” said Timothy Rainer, honorary chief at the Prince of Wales Hospital’s Service Department of Emergency Medicine.

A four-month government consultation in 2009 showed overwhelming public support for ambulance dispatch to be prioritized by the urgency of calls. “A recent opinion survey showed more than 70-per-cent support for MPDS,” said Cheung Tak Hai, vice-chairman of the Alliance for Patients’ Mutual Help Organizations.

The government’s proposed response-time targets compare well with overseas practices and can be used for rapid implementation. More improvements can come later with the system up and running.

Hong Kong’s present system is a “first-come-first-served” system with a 12-minute response time ignoring the severity of problems for people needing medical care. Dispatch staffers at the call centre have no way to prioritize calls.

With MPDS as a new government policy, the dispatch staff will operate under a new medically approved protocol to first give priority service to those in critical need, increasing the odds to save lives. The faster an ambulance can be dispatched, the earlier it arrives and the faster a patient reaches hospital.

The change for people operating the ambulance services is minor. More ambulances will be needed and new staff recruited, but the implementation focus lies with FSD management and the dispatch centre.