MONDAY, OCTOBER 11, 1976
OVER 107,800 AMBULANCE CALLS IN NINE MONTHS
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THE NUMBER OF CALLS RECEIVED BY THE AMBULANCE COMMAND OF THE FIRE SERVICES DEPARTMENT HAS BEEN RISING STEADILY.
ACCORDING TO STATISTICS RELEASED TODAY, THE COMMAND RESPONDED TO 107,841 CALLS DURING THE FIRST NINE MONTHS OF THIS YEAR, AN AVERAGE OF ABOUT 400 A DAY. THE FIGURE INCLUDES 87,708 EMERGENCY CALLS.
DURING THE SAME PERIOD, A TOTAL OF 131,125 PATIENTS WERE CARRIED IN THE COMMAND'S AMBULANCES, OF WHICH 92,638 WERE EMERGENCY CASES.
COMPARED WITH THE CORRESPONDING PERIOD OF THE PREVIOUS YEAR THE NUMBER OF AMBULANCE CALLS ROSE BY NEARLY 15 PER CENT AND THE RATE OF THE PATIENTS CARRIED WENT UP BY 16.5 PER CENT.
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KOWLOON, AS USUAL, HAD THE HIGHEST NUMBER OF CALLS 51,457, FOLLOWED BY HONG KONG WITH 34,067 AND THE NEW TERRITORIES WITH 22,317.
THE COMMAND, WHICH HAS AN ESTABLISHMENT OF 560 AND OPERATES A FLEET OF 99 AMBULANCES, IS NOW SEVERELY STRETCHED TO COPE WITH THE DEMAND.
THERE ARE ALSO PLANS TO INCREASE THE AMBULANCE FLEET, RECRUIT ADDITIONAL STAFF AND BUILD MORE DEPOTS.
CONSTRUCTION OF A TWO-STOREY AMBULANCE STATION AT KWAI CHUNG IS NOW UNDERWAY AND SHOULD BE COMPLETED BY MID 1977.
AT PRESENT, THERE ARE 10 AMBULANCE DEPOTS AND STATIONS THROUGHOUT HONG KONG, AND MORE ARE PLANNED FOR YUEN LONG, TUEN MUN, SHA TIN, TSING YI, CHEUNG SHA WAN, NGAU CHI WAN, ABERDEEN AND QUARRY BAY.
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