KUALA LUMPUR: Only 34.1% of ambulance responses nationwide met the Health Ministry's targeted response time for critical cases last year, falling short of its 50% benchmark, the Dewan Rakyat was told.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Dzulkefly Ahmad said urgent steps are being taken to improve ambulance response time, noting that the targeted response time should not exceed 15 minutes for critical, life-threatening and priority cases.
He said a 50% benchmark was set for these cases, acknowledging that the benchmark was not being met.
“Last year, our nationwide achievement for these cases stood only at 34.1%, which is below what we had set.
“The Health director-general is reviewing this matter rigorously,” he said during question time on Monday (Oct 13).
Dzukefly said that the ministry is also strengthening the NG-MERS 999 system and actively improving ambulance capacity.
The minister also said ambulance activation and response times during emergencies are also being strengthened together with emergency specialists.
He was responding to Datuk Seri Jalaluddin Alias’s (BN-Jelebu) supplementary question on ambulance response times.
Jalaluddin had questioned how a recent road crash victim within his constituency had to wait almost an hour before an ambulance arrived, despite the nearest healthcare facility being less than 500m away.
According to him, villagers nearby were also informed that medical officers could not go to a nearby emergency without an ambulance.
