Jakarta to have 'ambulance' bikes
Jakarta to have 'ambulance' bikes
By Primastuti Handayani
JAKARTA (JP): Jakarta's roads will soon have paramedics on motorcycles in order to reduce the death rate of accident victims caused by traffic jams in the city.
Dr. Bagus Mulyadi, director of the special and private hospitals office at the Ministry of Health, told The Jakarta Post in a 10-minute interview that the number of traffic accidents have increased lately and the injuries are getting worse and more complicated.
The condition should be addressed by providing better and faster first aid, he said.
"The main problem in Jakarta is traffic jams," he said, "If victims must be carried by ambulance, the van could get stuck in the traffic."
Dr. Aryono Djuned Pusponegoro, head of the emergency unit of the Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital, earlier said in a televised interview with a private TV network that the idea of "ambulance" motorcycles came up when 40 ambulances purchased during the Non- Aligned Movement summit in Jakarta two years ago got stuck in traffic jams.
According to Aryono, the solution came to him when he saw a delivery motorcycle of a fried chicken restaurant pass through a traffic jam.
He tried ordering chicken from that particular restaurant and his order was delivered in 20 minutes.
Bagus said that trail bikes will be designed to be used as first aid stations in remote areas.
"Train accidents and plane crashes need such 'ambulances'," he said.
Bagus said data shows that about 150 people die on their way to hospital every year in the city.
"The victims are usually people in the prime of life," he said.
"The motorcycles are expected to reduce the number of fatalities, hopefully by 100 percent," he added.
Paramedics
According to Bagus, by having motorcycles, paramedics would be able to reach an accident site in a short time and give first aid to the victims.
"The most important thing is to give first-aid in the 'golden period'," he said, "If we fail to provide aid, victims would die or become paralyzed."
Bagus said that the paramedics, who have been trained to operate "ambulance" motorcycles, will be able to take care of trauma, cardiac cases and other emergencies.
"They are provided with advanced trauma and cardiac life supports," he said.
He said Indonesia's medical profession is internationally licensed and has the instructors to train new paramedics.
"In fact, the paramedics were assigned to serve the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) delegates last year," he said.
Aryono said in the televised interview that the motorcycle prototype has already been built but he refused to give further information about the number of "ambulances" to be put in use, or about the budget for the project.
"It's too early to talk about the 'ambulances'," he said.
Aryono mentioned in the interview that the city will initially have 10 "ambulance" motorcycles.
Bagus, however, refused to give the exact date for the launching of the "ambulance" motorcycles.