More emergency medical services calls last year, fewer fires: SCDF annual report

SINGAPORE - Paramedics responded to more emergency calls last year during a surge in Covid-19 infections, when more people needed emergency medical assistance.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) received 213,615 calls for help last year, up 11.9 per cent from the 190,882 it got in 2020, according to its annual report released on Friday (Feb 11).

Between September and November in particular, SCDF paramedics attended to 63,000 calls, 36.5 per cent more than in the same period the year before.

In response to queries, SCDF told The Straits Times that of the 63,000 calls, 4.6 per cent were non-emergency calls, where urgent medical assistance was not required.

Overall, non-emergency calls also went up slightly, from 8,835 in 2020 to 9,050 calls last year.

SCDF attributed this to the rise in the number of suspected Covid-19 cases. Many were assessed to be non-emergencies, as the patients were not seriously ill and did not need to be taken to hospital.

Overall, however, SCDF said it has in the last few years received fewer calls that were either non-emergency or false alarms, as a result of the publicity campaigns it has conducted since 2018 to call 995 only in a medical emergency.

It said: "To ensure that SCDF's emergency medical services can provide swift conveyance to hospitals for those with life-threatening and emergency conditions, we urge individuals who are not experiencing life-threatening emergencies to refrain from calling 995."

An SCDF spokesman added that, for confirmed or suspected Covid-19 patients, SCDF will take only those with severe acute respiratory infection symptoms or serious medical conditions to hospital.

While medical emergencies formed the bulk of calls to the SCDF last year, those alerting it to trauma such as industrial accidents, falls and assaults went up by 12.1 per cent to 31,656.

On incidents of fire, SCDF said it responded to 1,844 fire calls last year, compared with 1,877 in 2020.

There were 194 fire injuries last year, an increase from 184 in 2020, and three fatalities, up from one in 2020.

Overall, fires of electrical origin was the leading type of fire last year, accounting for 588, or 31.9 per cent, of all cases.

While there were fewer fires that started in homes last year, there was a 7.5 per cent increase in fires on non-residential premises, for a total of 415 incidents last year.

Of those, fires on commercial premises increased by 21.1 per cent, to 212 cases.

Among the 1,010 fires on residential properties, the main sources of the blazes were unattended cooking, followed by electrical fires and fires of household contents like furniture.

There was also an overall 19.1 per cent fall in the number of fires involving active mobility devices - from 68 in 2020 to 55 last year. This includes personal mobility devices (PMDs) and power-assisted bicycles (PABs).

Fires involving PMDs fell 23.8 per cent, to 32 cases, while those involving PABs dropped 11.5 per cent, to 23 cases.

SCDF noted that the number of fires involving discarded items in places such as lift lobbies and common corridors dropped substantially, by 24.9 per cent, to 145 cases last year.

It attributed this to ongoing efforts by it and the National Fire and Emergency Preparedness Council (NFEC) to engage town councils and residents on keeping common spaces clear of clutter.

Regular enforcement checks will be conducted at these premises to ensure compliance with fire safety regulations, said SCDF.

The annual report also acknowledged the efforts of first responders, the members of the public who put out small fires like rubbish chute fires.

Colonel Anthony Toh, director of SCDF’s operations department, noted a 53 per cent spike in response last year from the public on the myResponder app, with 1,419 individuals responding and putting out rubbish chute and bin fires that year.

“We are encouraged by the significant increase and would like to thank our CFRs (community first responders) for stepping forward,” Col Toh said.

NFEC chairman Markham Shaw said the council was encouraged by the decrease in the overall number of fires last year, but added that it was working with SCDF and others to organise dialogues for owners and fire safety managers of commercial and industrial properties.

He said: "One particular area that we will be paying close attention to is electrical fires, the leading cause of all fires last year, accounting for 588 cases, or about 30 per cent, of the cases."