Recently, in a number of first aid-related incidents, the parties complained about the delay in the arrival of the ambulance.
Incident 1: In Shanghai, drunks called 120. After the ambulance arrived, a group of drinkers thought the ambulance arrived too late and beat the emergency personnel with plank bricks and sticks.
Incident 2: In Shenzhen, a young man suddenly twitched and suffered cardiac arrest at a subway station. The ambulance drove out within one minute after receiving the call for help and arrived at the scene in 12 minutes. The rescue lasted for about half an hour. Finally, the rescue was ineffective and he died! Family members questioned the arrival of the 120 ambulance too late.
Incident 3: Doctor 120 drove at night. A worker at a construction site not far from the first aid station suffered sudden cardiac arrest. The ambulance arrived at the scene for first aid in 5 minutes. After 45 minutes of rescue, when the family arrived, they asked the first aid personnel [How did you get there? You didn’t rescue him in time? The deceased had a history of lymphoma (a malignant tumor) and finally did not even pay the fare of 30 yuan, let alone the rescue fee.
Why do ambulances always come late? Why can’t ambulances fall from the sky as soon as they are called like miracles?
I. First Aid Mode and Departure Process
Let’s first take a look at several modes of pre-hospital first aid in China and the first aid departure process. At present, there is no uniform standard pre-hospital first aid mode in China. Various modes have been established according to the actual situation.
1. Beijing and Shanghai are pre-hospital models. First aid stations are set up according to the plan. First aid personnel are on standby to drive at any time, with quick response and high efficiency. However, most of the first aid personnel are contracted, with low treatment, large mobility and shortage of personnel. There have been many reports in Shanghai that there are cars but no one can send after receiving patient calls.
2. Guangzhou, For the command mode, the emergency departments of various hospitals all over Guangzhou are relied on as the first aid stations, which are responsible in sections. After receiving the call, the 120 center will notify the emergency departments of nearby hospitals to drive. The emergency doctors are still responsible for the general reception and observation area medical work of the emergency department while being responsible for the drive. They belong to more than one person and have high work intensity.
3. Chongqing and other places and most small and medium-sized cities, in order to rely on the model, the emergency center is attached to a large local general hospital, which serves as the main receiving hospital for ambulance patients.
No matter what kind of first aid mode, the average arrival time from receiving the call, confirming the location, dispatching, road traffic, contacting and confirming the pick-up of the car or the location of the patient… almost reaches more than 15 minutes. It is even more impossible to estimate when encountering traffic jams during rush hours.
The first aid system itself is set up to give priority to efficiency. No first aid system will deliberately delay the departure. As the first aid personnel cannot confirm the patient’s status before arriving at the scene, doctors and nurses will leave the car according to the most emergency state for every call event.
II. Reasons for Delay
1. Traffic conditions are the most common cause of arrival delays. At present, everyone has experience of urban traffic conditions. Although ambulances have the privilege of ignoring traffic lights, they are still in a turtle-speed state in cities, and ambulance robbers abound.
2. The caller cannot provide the exact and fast arrival place, and there is no one to pick up the car. Emergency personnel need to touch the platoon to go to the patient’s place, which will also cause the arrival delay.
3. Of course, due to the unreasonable setting of first aid stations, the shortage of first aid personnel or ambulances, and the lack of people or vehicles to dispatch, it is beyond the ability of ordinary medical personnel to solve the problem. With the increase of violent attacks on doctors in pre-hospital first aid, there will be more and more cases of no one to dispatch.
Third, it is very important to learn first aid knowledge.
At present, more than 80% of emergency calls in Guangzhou, All that is needed is to be carried downstairs and transported to the hospital. There is no first aid. However, for truly critical and fatal sudden cardiac arrest, due to the fact that witnesses on the scene cannot identify cardiac arrest at an early stage, cannot dial emergency calls at an early stage, and almost no one carries out on-site cardiopulmonary resuscitation, emergency personnel often lose the best first aid time (4-6 minutes after cardiac arrest) after arriving, and the success rate of rescue is extremely low!
No matter how advanced the medical first aid system is, it always takes time for the ambulance to arrive. It cannot fall from the sky and save lives instantly.
If you don’t know anything about first aid and common medical knowledge, can’t realize the possible life danger at an early stage, can’t provide appropriate first aid treatment at the critical moment of life and death, completely pin the miracle of life on the arrival of the ambulance, and use stupidity, anger and helplessness to urge the arrival of the ambulance, this is doomed to the end of life.
When you pay attention to first aid, understand the operation of the local emergency medical system, understand the family management of common diseases, learn emergency treatment of emergencies, learn cardiopulmonary resuscitation… when all this becomes one of your life skills, You have the ability to make ambulances arrive at the scene faster, you have the ability to fight for another 10 minutes for doctors to arrive, you have the ability to save lives, and you will become a hero to protect the health of family and friends!
Therefore, when the patient’s life is in danger, if no one at the scene provides immediate first aid measures, the ambulance is always [late]; If witnesses at the scene can identify and call for help at an early stage and provide basic life support at an early stage, the ambulance will become a real life-saving vehicle!
It is not the ambulance that arrived late, but you have not learned the common sense of first aid.
Author: Emergency Nighthawk
This article is reprinted by the Emergency Department of Guangzhou First People’s Hospital @ Emergency Nighthawk Authorized Clove Garden.