KOTA KINABALU – The difference between life and death could be mere minutes, and for one man, an hour-long wait for an ambulance cost him his life.
Although Sabah Health Director Datuk Dr Rose Nani Mudin said the first emergency call was disconnected during a call transfer to a hospital, the MERS 999 hotline is being criticised for other incidents as well.
She added that the Queen Elizabeth Hospital Medical Emergency Call Centre tried six times to ring the caller but to no avail.
By then, Ipoh baker Liew Kok Fai, 54, was already lying helpless in his car in Taman Nelly in Kolombong here.
When the emergency response team got there, they could only confirm that he had died.
Local reports suggested that he suffered a heart attack while driving as bystanders said the vehicle that Liew was driving suddenly swerved and slammed into a concrete fence.
Another incident that fuelled public anger over the emergency response time was a fire last September that saw a family of four perish in their house in Hungab, Penampang here.
The fire was said to have started at 2am, but the Fire and Rescue Department only arrived 45 minutes later despite the station being barely 1km away.
Those who called the emergency hotline alleged that they were being asked too many questions, resulting in a delay in deploying help.
‘Fix the system’
A Sabahan, who wanted to be known as James, said calling the MERS 999 hotline is not as efficient as directly calling the local Fire and Rescue stations.
“There was once an incident involving a fire that was near my house. Directly calling the Fire and Rescue Department was more efficient,” he said.
Meanwhile, a netizen known as Michael Johnny said calling MERS 999 can be frustrating, as it appears that the automated system cannot establish the location of the call.
I called the number once, and the personnel asked me to describe my location. I had to call a few times before any help arrived,” he said, adding that there was nothing wrong with the divert call system.
“But the confusion and delays usually happen when talking to the personnel at the call centre.”
No change despite complaints
Kota Kinabalu MP Chan Foong Hin has slammed the slow response time in the Kolombong incident.
“A life could have been saved if the emergency medical service had been dispatched and arrived earlier. It is unacceptable to delay up to an hour just to deploy an ambulance to the scene.
Meanwhile, Warisan vice-president Datuk Junz Wong said issues with the MERS 999 call service should be rectified with a sense of urgency, as people’s lives are at stake.
Why should the line be diverted to KL instead of Sabah’s own call centre? Why can’t a simple matter such as this be resolved? This is ridiculous and unacceptable! How many more lives have to be sacrificed?”
Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and state opposition chief Datuk Seri Mohd Shafie Apdal had reiterated calls for the federal government to set up an emergency response call centre in the state.
Currently, all emergency calls are automatically directed to call centres in Kuala Lumpur, Melaka, or Kuching, before they are connected to the nearest police or fire stations, as well as hospitals to deploy assistance.
The issue had been raised in Parliament before in the aftermath of the Penampang fire, but only saw platitudes from federal ministers.
Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Reezal Merican Naina Merican had asked colleague Communications and Multimedia Minister Tan Sri Annuar Musa to improve the emergency call system.
However, Annuar gave no response on whether a call centre should be established in Sabah, but only explained the response time in relation to the fire. – The Vibes, May 7, 2022
