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.