11.
MAJOR RECOMMENDATIONS
It is recommended that:
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
vi.
vii.
A ten minute travel time target, within which per cent of emergency incidents fall. should adopted.
95
be
An average of three new ambulance depots per year are developed over the next five or six years, as shown in Table 1. Approximately one third of these will be replacement sites, two thirds will be new sites. Some could be of non-standard design.
Outposting of ambulances at fire stations must continue if the target time is to be achieved, as detailed in the Report on Emergency Cover, until replaced by nearby depot development.
Additional temporary standby is provided at five fire stations over the next few years.
A more dynamic system of emergency cover is employed by FSCC, entailing more frequent re-routing of vehicles on the road and more backup between depots and stations. Control equipment should be enhanced to provide more air space for voice communication and an improved data transmission rate. The ambulance consoles should be manned by
personnel specialising in
ambulance operations.
Tiering of ambulance services should be introduced, with separate Controls for emergency and routine calls and crews on routine removal duties working a nine hour day, five days per week. The routine tier should be composed of a mix of two and three man crews as illustrated in Table 2. The establishment under this system is approximately 1540 ambulancemen.
Hospitals and clinics should co-ordinate their discharge and transfers as much as possible in facilitating of ambulance operations. Routine requests are increasing sharply, especially those for geriatric patients and the quality of these services will inevitably fall unless these requests are regulated. This could take the form of organising transfers at pre-arranged times each day, or more effectively, of requesting transport 24 hours in advance so that routes and loads may be planned the previous evening by Routine Control staff.
the
18