LCQ14: Emergency ambulance service on outlying islands
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Following is a question by the Hon Leung Che-cheung and a written reply by the Secretary for Security, Mr John Lee, in the Legislative Council today (July 5):
Question:
At present, there are two main arrangements for emergency ambulance service in remote areas on outlying islands: (i) police officers on arrival at the scene first check a patient's condition and then, where necessary, call a helicopter to transfer the patient to an acute hospital in the urban area, or call a marine police launch to transfer the patient to a pier in the urban area for onward transfer to an acute hospital by an ambulance, and (ii) after an ambulance has transferred a patient to a nearby public clinic, the nurse on duty there checks the patient's condition and then, where necessary, calls a helicopter to transfer the patient to an acute hospital in the urban area. Some residents on outlying islands have pointed out that the current arrangements for emergency ambulance service on outlying islands are defective. As a result, it often takes more than one hour from the making of a call for emergency ambulance service to the patient's arrival at an acute hospital and, in the past, some patients even died before arriving at hospital. Regarding the emergency ambulance service in the six districts of (a) South Lantau, (b) North Lantau (except Tung Chung New Town), (c) North Lamma Island, (d) South Lamma Island, (e) Peng Chau and Hei Ling Chau as well as (f) Cheung Chau, will the Government inform this Council:
(1) in respect of the six aforesaid districts, of the current arrangements for emergency ambulance service (i.e. the aforesaid type (i) or type (ii) arrangement, or (iii) other arrangements (please specify)) during daytime from Mondays to Saturdays (weekdays), and on evenings of weekdays and on Sundays and public holidays respectively, and set out such information in Table 1;
Table 1
| District | Arrangement for emergency ambulance service (type (i), (ii) or (iii)) |
|
| During daytime on weekdays | On evenings of weekdays and on Sundays and public holidays | |
| (a) | ||
| (b) | ||
| (c) | ||
| (d) | ||
| (e) | ||
| (f) | ||
(2) in each of the past three years, of (i) the respective numbers of emergency ambulance calls received from the six aforesaid districts by the authorities, as well as (ii) the average time and (iii) the median time taken between the receipt of calls and the patients' arrival at acute hospitals (and set out such information in Table 2);
Table 2
| District | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | ||||||
| (i) | (ii) | (iii) | (i) | (ii) | (iii) | (i) | (ii) | (iii) | |
| (a) | |||||||||
| (b) | |||||||||
| (c) | |||||||||
| (d) | |||||||||
| (e) | |||||||||
| (f) | |||||||||
(3) of the respective numbers of ambulances and logistic support appliances stationed in each of the six aforesaid districts; the respective numbers of service calls attended by the (i) ambulances and (ii) logistic support appliances in the six aforesaid districts in each of the past three years (and set out such information in Table 3);
Table 3
| District | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | |||
| (i) | (ii) | (i) | (ii) | (i) | (ii) | |
| (a) | ||||||
| (b) | ||||||
| (c) | ||||||
| (d) | ||||||
| (e) | ||||||
| (f) | ||||||
(4) of the respective numbers of service calls attended by (i) helicopters and (ii) marine police launches for transferring patients from the six aforesaid districts to acute hospitals in urban areas in each of the past three years (and set out such information in Table 4); and
Table 4
| District | 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | |||
| (i) | (ii) | (i) | (ii) | (i) | (ii) | |
| (a) | ||||||
| (b) | ||||||
| (c) | ||||||
| (d) | ||||||
| (e) | ||||||
| (f) | ||||||
(5) whether the authorities have taken into account the additional demand brought about by picnickers when they make manpower arrangements for emergency ambulance service for districts on outlying islands during weekends and holidays; if so, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; given that some residents on outlying islands have indicated that at present, the shortage of emergency ambulance service for outlying islands during weekends and holidays is even more acute than that on weekdays, of the causes of such situation?
Reply:
President,
My reply to the various parts of the question raised by the Hon Leung is as follows:
(1) When the 999 consoles or the Fire Services Communications Centre receives an emergency service call from an outlying island which is an emergency ambulance call, personnel of the Fire Services Department (FSD) will be deployed to handle the case. If necessary, police officers will be dispatched to the scene to provide assistance. FSD's general arrangement in handling emergency ambulance calls from outlying islands can be categorised as follows:
(i) South Lantau, North Lantau, North Lamma Island, Peng Chau and Cheung Chau (with 24-hour Accident and Emergency (A&E) or first-aid service): A patient will be delivered to the A&E Department of a designated hospital or a clinic with first-aid station by an ambulance or a logistics support appliance (LSA) with basic life-saving equipment and an ambulance stretcher. The patient will then be treated by medical personnel there, who will determine, based on the patient's conditions, whether there is a need and if so, how to transfer the patient to other hospitals.
(ii) South Lamma Island (with the Sok Kwu Wan General Out-Patient Clinic cum first-aid station which operates from Mondays to Saturdays only): FSD personnel will board a police launch or a fireboat from the Lamma Fire Station on North Lamma Island, or a fire station / an ambulance depot on Hong Kong Island for Sok Kwu Wan Pier, where they disembark and proceed to the patient for treatment.
FSD personnel will deliver all patients requiring emergency ambulance services to the Sok Kwu Wan Clinic during its opening hours. The patient will be treated by medical personnel at the clinic, who will determine, based on the patient's conditions, whether there is a need and if so, how to transfer the patient to a hospital in the urban area. Outside the opening hours of the Sok Kwu Wan Clinic, a patient will be conveyed to Sok Kwu Wan Pier by FSD personnel and then transported to piers in the urban area by a police launch or a fireboat, where he/she will be transferred to the A&E Department of a designated hospital by ambulance.
(iii) Hei Ling Chau (with only Correctional Service Department's institutions on the island): FSD personnel will attend to the patient by taking a police launch or a fireboat from the Cheung Chau Fire Station or a fire station / an ambulance depot on Hong Kong Island to Hei Ling Chau. The patient will then be conveyed to piers in the urban area by a police launch or a fireboat, where he/she will be transferred to the A&E Department of a designated hospital by ambulance.
Under arrangements (ii) and (iii) above, if a patient's situation is critical (e.g. suffering from heart attack or in coma), FSD personnel will request the Government Flying Service to arrange a helicopter for delivering the patient to a urban hospital from the island, or to an urban helipad, where the patient will be transferred to an urban hospital by ambulance for treatment.
(2) In the past three years, the numbers of emergency ambulance calls received by FSD from the six aforesaid districts, as well as the average times and the median times taken between the receipt of calls and the patients' arrival at clinics or acute hospitals are tabulated below:
2014
| District | Number of emergency ambulance calls received | Time taken between the receipt of emergency ambulance calls and the patients’ arrival at clinics or acute hospitals | |
| Average (approximate) | Median (approximate) |
||
| (a) South Lantau | 1 591 | 45 mins | 39 mins |
| (b) North Lantau (excluding Tung Chung New Town) | 5 598 | 40 mins | 38 mins |
| (c) North Lamma Island | 384 | 30 mins | 26 mins |
| (d) South Lamma Island | 117 | 1 hr 23 mins | 1 hr 21 mins |
| (e) Peng Chau and Hei Ling Chau |
648* | 20 mins | 19 mins |
| (f) Cheung Chau | 2 628 | 22mins | 20 mins |
2015
| District | Number of emergency ambulance calls received | Time taken between the receipt of emergency ambulance calls and the patients’ arrival at clinics or acute hospitals | |
| Average (approximate) | Median (approximate) |
||
| (a) South Lantau | 1 666 | 44 mins | 39 mins |
| (b) North Lantau (excluding Tung Chung New Town) | 5 885 | 39 mins | 37 mins |
| (c) North Lamma Island | 408 | 29 mins | 26 mins |
| (d) South Lamma Island | 86 | 1 hr 22 mins | 1 hr 17 mins |
| (e) Peng Chau and Hei Ling Chau |
626* | 21 mins | 20 mins |
| (f) Cheung Chau | 2 404 | 23 mins | 20 mins |
2016
| District | Number of emergency ambulance calls received | Time taken between the receipt of emergency ambulance calls and the patients’ arrival at clinics or acute hospitals | |
| Average (approximate) | Median (approximate) |
||
| (a) South Lantau | 1 620 | 43 mins | 39 mins |
| (b) North Lantau (excluding Tung Chung New Town) | 5 967 | 39 mins | 37 mins |
| (c) North Lamma Island | 343 | 29 mins | 26 mins |
| (d) South Lamma Island | 90 | 1 hr 24 mins | 1 hr 26 mins |
| (e) Peng Chau and Hei Ling Chau |
640# | 19 mins | 18 mins |
| (f) Cheung Chau | 2 481 | 22 mins | 19 mins |
(3) The numbers of ambulances and LSAs stationed in each of the six aforesaid districts are as follows:
| District | Number of ambulances and LSAs | |
| Ambulances | LSAs | |
| (a) South Lantau | 3 24-hour shift ambulances | - |
| (b) North Lantau (including Tung Chung New Town) | 10 day shift ambulances, 5 night shift ambulances and 3 24-hour shift ambulances | - |
| (c) North Lamma Island | 1 24-hour shift ambulance | 1 24-hour shift LSA |
| (d) South Lamma Island | ||
| (e) Peng Chau and Hei Ling Chau |
1 24-hour shift ambulance | 1 24-hour shift LSA |
| (f) Cheung Chau | 1 24-hour shift ambulance | 2 24-hour shift LSAs |
The numbers of service calls attended to by the relevant vehicles in the past three years are as follows:
| District | Number of service calls attended* | |||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | ||||
| Ambulances | LSAs | Ambulances | LSAs | Ambulances | LSAs | |
| (a) South Lantau | 1 572 | 19 | 1 662 | 4 | 1 613 | 7 |
| (b) North Lantau (excluding Tung Chung New Town) | 5 598 | 0 | 5 885 | 0 | 5 967 | 0 |
| (c) North Lamma Island | 353 | 31 | 383 | 25 | 325 | 18 |
| (d) South Lamma Island | 114 | 3 | 85 | 1 | 88 | 2 |
| (e) Peng Chau and Hei Ling Chau | 573 | 75 | 558 | 68 | 571 | 69 |
| (f) Cheung Chau | 2 069 | 559 | 1 955 | 449 | 1 931 | 550 |
(4) In the past three years, the numbers of service calls attended to by helicopters and police launches for conveying patients from the six aforesaid districts to acute hospitals in urban areas are tabulated below:
| District | Number of service calls attended* | |||||
| 2014 | 2015 | 2016 | ||||
| Helicopters | Police Launches | Helicopters | Police Launches | Helicopters | Police Launches | |
| (a) South Lantau | 145 | 0 | 147 | 0 | 147 | 0 |
| (b) North Lantau (excluding Tung Chung New Town) |
14 | 0 | 11 | 0 | 1 | 0 |
| (c) North Lamma Island | 129 | 19 | 108 | 63 | 93 | 75 |
| (d) South Lamma Island | 2 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| (e) Peng Chau and Hei Ling Chau | 368 | 82 | 311 | 78 | 316 | 103 |
| (f) Cheung Chau | 1 324 | 276 | 1 124 | 288 | 1 011 | 305 |
(5) FSD has been closely monitoring the demand for emergency ambulance services throughout the territory (including outlying islands), and conducts reviews from time to time to ensure that ambulance resources are effectively deployed. In addition, with regard to the special circumstances of outlying islands, FSD will formulate contingency plans and deploy ambulance resources appropriately on standby in specific areas when certain activities are held and when crowds are expected (e.g. during the Bun Festival and Floating Colours Parade in Cheung Chau), so as to ensure that adequate resources are available for meeting the demand.
Ends/Wednesday, July 5, 2017
Issued at HKT 18:56
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