JOHOR BARU: Johor needs to amp up its number of paramedics as the state also recorded the third-highest number of accidents last year at over 87,000.
Johor Health and Environment Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said there were currently 1,454 paramedics throughout the state compared to a total of 1,532 positions.
This shortage included paramedics who are also assistant medical officers and nurses experienced in first aid and health support in clinics or hospitals, he said.
“In Johor, there are 1,454 paramedics, which is not enough for all health facilities and we are still faced with a shortage of health workers or staff.
“If we follow the existing posts, there is a total of 1,532 posts. I think we are almost 100 people short. That is just in terms of recruitment and not counting in terms of needs,” he added.
Ling, who is also Yong Peng assemblyman, said this after officiating the Malaysian Trauma Life Support (MTLS) course held at a hotel here on Monday (Aug 12).
He added Johor received an average of 30 emergency and trauma calls per day, reaching 60 calls at certain periods.
"With that high rate (of 87,000), if we calculate that half of the victims need to be referred to health facilities, it means that every year we receive no less than 44,000 accident victims. That is the number of accidents alone, not counting the cases of other emergencies.
“Hopefully with the implementation of various courses including the MTLS course by the Johor Trauma Emergency Association and the state Health Department, this will provide the necessary training staff who are always ready, so that they can do more because we are faced with a shortage of staff,” he added.
Ling said such courses were important to ease the heavy workload of emergency and trauma departments.
“Courses like this can improve the performance of paramedics working in the emergency department," he said adding that the three-day training course was fully borne by the Johor government with an allocation of RM100,000.
