Almost 2 minutes saved for each emergency trip to hospital under SCDF traffic priority system
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The traffic priority system gives Singapore Civil Defence Force ambulances priority at traffic lights, so they have a "green light" path to hospitals.
PHOTO: SCDF
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SINGAPORE – Since its implementation in July 2024, a “green light” traffic priority system for emergency ambulances
In a Facebook post on Jan 13, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) said the system, now operational near eight hospitals, will be reviewed and expanded to more locations.
The system is activated when SCDF ambulances take patients with life-threatening medical conditions to hospital.
It gives SCDF ambulances priority at traffic lights, so they have a “green light” path to hospitals and can avoid getting stuck in traffic at junctions near hospitals or having to run red lights.
The system works at traffic junctions near Ng Teng Fong General Hospital, National University Hospital, Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Changi General Hospital, Singapore General Hospital, Sengkang General Hospital, Tan Tock Seng Hospital and Woodlands Hospital.
It was co-developed by the SCDF, the Home Team Science and Technology Agency and the Land Transport Authority, and was first rolled out to traffic junctions around Ng Teng Fong General Hospital in July 2024.
In response to queries from The Straits Times, Thomson Medical’s Urgent Care Centre emergency medicine specialist Sanjeev Shanker said that seconds can make the difference in certain emergency situations.
Dr Shanker said: “The greater the duration of time taken for the patient to reach a hospital for advanced medical care, the greater the risk of permanent damage to vital organs or death.”
He cited the examples of cardiac arrests, heart attacks, strokes, trauma and seizures.
Every minute of cardiac arrest reduces the chance of survival and increases the risk of brain damage, he said.
In the case of strokes, Dr Shanker said: “Certain treatments like what the layman may know as “clot busters” are time-sensitive.
“They can be given only during a narrow time window, so if there is a delay in reaching the hospital, such treatments may no longer be an option for the patient, resulting in poorer permanent neurological outcomes.”
In cases of severe traumatic injuries, internal and external blood loss can result in death within minutes, added Dr Shanker. And the sooner seizures are stopped, the lower the risk of permanent brain damage.
The traffic priority system uses an electronic transponder in each ambulance to activate priority passage at traffic junctions near hospitals. At these junctions, sensors are linked to traffic light controllers, which trigger traffic lights in favour of an approaching ambulance.
The sensors detect the in-vehicle transponder through radio waves and are activated as the ambulance comes within 200m of a designated traffic junction.
Normal traffic operations resume after the ambulance crosses the junction.
