All in order: Firefighters from the Larkin fire and rescue station inspecting the equipment. — THOMAS YONG/The Star
JOHOR BARU: Johor is expected to receive close to 30 new ambulances this year, says state health and environment committee chairman Ling Tian Soon.
He hopes the addition, including 21 units allocated by the Federal Government, will address the shortage of ambulances and reduce response time.
“Under the state Budget 2025, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi announced a RM2mil allocation for four ambulances for Tangkak, Mersing, Batu Pahat and Kota Tinggi.
“On top of that, we have also secured funding for three more ambulances for health clinics in Majidee, Gelang Patah and Tebrau.
“The Federal Government has also allocated another 21 units for Johor, bringing the total number of ambulances expected to arrive in the state to 28 by the end of this year,” he said in an interview.
Ling, who is also the Yong Peng assemblyman, said the state government has been pushing for Johor to have more ambulances for quite some time as it is a major issue in certain parts of the state.
“This is an issue even in my own constituency in Yong Peng. Sometimes, it can take hours for an ambulance to respond to an emergency, which could cost lives,” he said.
Meanwhile, Johor Fire and Rescue Department’s Emergency Medical Rescue Services (EMRS) special unit advisor Mohd Khairul Sufian said among the issues they faced in reducing response time is the lack of manpower.
“There are 240 vacant posts for the EMRS special unit statewide, but only 184 vacancies have been filled so far.
“The number is not ideal for us to be able to cover the whole state, but it is also not easy for these vacancies to be filled as there are strict requirements firefighters have to fulfil in order to be in the unit,” he said.
Aspiring firefighters must first pass physical and psychological tests before they can attend a compulsory course.
“On top of that, they have to go through medical training at a hospital for at least 120 hours in order to join the team.
“After they have succeeded, they have to attend to emergency cases for at least 20 hours a month in order to remain in the unit.
“If there are not enough emergency cases to respond to, they have to either attend to emergency cases in hospitals or attend medical training at fire stations,” he said, adding that there are 20 EMRS vehicles at the 34 fire stations statewide.
“However, two are not working now as they were involved in accidents last year,” he said, adding that the department hopes to get more units to reduce response time.
