Ministry of Health Ambulance Accidents: A Retrospective Analysis
Abstract
Background: Ambulance service is crucial in Emergency Medical Services aid in saving lives and improving prognosis. Involvement in accidents while transporting patients impedes its own function to provide safe and reliable services. The aim of this study is to describe the ambulance accidents in 2013-2014 in terms of characteristics and outcomes.
Methodology: This cross-sectional study and the primary data is from Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM) from 2013 to 2014. All ambulance accidents reported were collected from the Accidents Data Form (POL27) extracted using MIROS Road Accidents Database System (M-ROADS). Mapping of data from PDRM and the Ministry of Health (MOH) allows for a better insight.
Results: Throughout the study period, 134 Ministry of Health (MOH) ambulances and 78 other agencies' ambulances were involved in accidents. Analysis of ambulances accidents characteristics shows that 90% of ambulance accidents involved single and two vehicles, with ni apparent trend by month. The highest accidents occurred during weekdays, during the daytime, on sight roads (55.2%), and on the federal roads (27.6%). Accidents in these two consecutive years had caused two fatalities while most had only damaged the involved vehicles.
Discussion: This study was able to demonstrate MOH ambulance accident numbers, characteristics of accidents pertaining to time, location, road type, and outcome of accidents in Malaysia from 2013 to 2014. This study was only able to demonstrate certain characteristics from the best available data of today's system. Integration of data between agencies would allow evidence-based information to guide policy measures in addressing the safety and reliability of ambulances as well as minimal work hazard for prehospital care (PHC) personnel.
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Abu Bakar, N. S., Ab Hamid, J., Mahaletchumy, S., Manual, A., Ishak, A.S., Abdullah, Z., Mahmud, S.H., Shabadin, A., Roslan, A., Mohamad Noor, A.T. (2017) Ambulance Accidents in Malaysia: Trends and Characteristics Research Team Members. Institute for Health Systems Research, Ministry of Health Malaysia. doi: 10.13140/RG.2.2.14542.61760.
Abu Bakar, N. S., Abd Hamid, J., et al. (2017) ‘Trends of ambulance accidents in Malaysia: Implications to public health’, Medical Journal Malaysia, 72(1), p. 2740. Available at: http://www.e-mjm.org/2017/v72s1/90.pdf (Accessed: 25 June 2021).
Anantharaman, V. and Lim, S. H. (2001) ‘Hospital and emergency ambulance link: using IT to enhance emergency pre-hospital care’, International Journal of Medical Informatics, 61(2–3), pp. 147–161. doi: 10.1016/s1386-5056(01)00137-x.
Anisah, A. Chew, K.S., Shah, C.H., Rahman, N. (2008) ‘Patients’ perception of the ambulance services at Hospital Universiti Sains Malaysia’, Singapore medical journal, 49, pp. 631–5.
Arnold and Itkin (2018) Statistics on Emergency Vehicle Accidents in the United States, Arnold & Itkin LLP. Available at: https://www.arnolditkin.com/personal-injury-blog/2018/february/statistics-on-emergency-vehicle-accidents-in-the/ (Accessed: 25 June 2021).
Arunah, C., Teo, A.H., Ahmad, F., Mahathar, A.W., Tajuddin, A.M.N., Khairi, K., Ismail, M.S., Alzamani, M.I., Shukruddeen, S., Kasuadi, H. et al. (2010) ‘Emergency and Trauma Services in Malaysian Hospitals.' National Healthcare Establishements & Workforce Statistics 2010, pp. 73–86. Available at: http://www.crc.gov.my/nhsi/wpcontent/uploads/publications/NHEWS_Hospital2010/Chapter6Hospitals_Report_2010.pdf. (Accessed: 26 July 2019)
Blackwell, T. H. and Kaufman, J. S. (2002) Response Time Effectiveness: Comparison of Response Time and Survival in an Urban Emergency Medical Services System - Blackwell - 2002 - Academic Emergency Medicine - Wiley Online Library. Available at: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1197/aemj.9.4.288
Chiu, P. W., Lin, C.L., Fang, P.H., Lu, C.H., Hsu, H.C., Chi, C.H. (2018) ‘Ambulance traffic accidents in Taiwan’, Journal of the Formosan Medical Association, 117(4), pp. 283–291. doi: 10.1016/j.jfma.2018.01.014.
Church, A. L. and Plitponkarnpim, A. (1998) ‘Emergency medicine in Thailand’, Annals of Emergency Medicine, 32(1), pp. 93–97. doi: 10.1016/s0196-0644(98)70104-0.
Darma, Y., Karim, M. and Abdullah, S. (2017) ‘An analysis of Malaysia road traffic death distribution by road environment’. doi: 10.1007/S12046-017-0694-9.
Grant, C. C. and Merrifield, B. (2011) Analysis of Ambulance Crash Data, pp. 1–103. Available at: http://tkolb.net/FireReports/2012/AmbCrashData1990-2009.pdf
Hisamuddin, N. A. R. N., Hamzah, M. S. and Holliman, C. J. (2007) ‘Prehospital emergency medical services in Malaysia’, The Journal of Emergency Medicine, 32(4), pp. 415–421. doi: 10.1016/j.jemermed.2006.08.021.
Kahn, C. A., Pirrallo, R. G. and Kuhn, E. M. (2001) ‘Characteristics of fatal ambulance crashes in the United States: an 11-year retrospective analysis’, Prehospital emergency care: official journal of the National Association of EMS Physicians and the National Association of State EMS Directors, 5(3), pp. 261–269. doi: 10.1080/10903120190939751.
Kanaan, A., Huertas, P., Santiago, A., Sánchez, J. A., Martínez, P. (2009) ‘Incidence of different health factors and their influence on traffic accidents in the province of Madrid, Spain’, Legal Medicine, 11, pp. S333–S336. doi: 10.1016/j.legalmed.2009.01.010.
Kironji, A. G., Hodkinson, P., de Ramirez, S. S., Anest, T., Wallis, L., Razzak, J., Jenson, A., Hansoti, B. (2018) ‘Identifying barriers for out of hospital emergency care in low and low-middle income countries: a systematic review’, BMC Health Services Research, 18(1), p. 1-20. doi: 10.1186/s12913-018-3091-0.
Lateef, F. (2006) ‘The emergency medical services in Singapore’, Resuscitation, 68(3), pp. 323–328. doi: 10.1016/j.resuscitation.2005.12.007.
Ministry of Health Malaysia (2012) Emergency Medicine and Trauma Services Policy. Available at: https://www.moh.gov.my/moh/images/gallery/Polisi/EMTS_Book.pdf.
Ministry of Health Malaysia (2019) Policy on Safety of Land Ambulances. Available at: https://www.moh.gov.my/moh/resources/Arkib/Policy_of_Ambulance_Safety.pdf
Pirrallo, R. G. and Swor, R. A. (1994) ‘Characteristics of fatal ambulance crashes during emergency and non-emergency operation’, Prehospital and Disaster Medicine, 9(2), pp. 125–132. doi: 10.1017/s1049023x00041029.
Pitt, E. and Pusponegoro, A. (2005) ‘Prehospital care in Indonesia’, Emergency medicine journal, 22(2), pp. 144–147. doi: 10.1136/emj.2003.007757.
Rahman, N. and Holliman, C. (2005) ‘Emergency Medicine in Malaysia’, Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine, 12(4), pp. 246–251. doi: 10.1177/102490790501200410
Ray, A. F. and Kupas, D. F. (2005) ‘Comparison of Crashes Involving Ambulances with Those of Similar-Sized Vehicles’, Prehospital Emergency Care, 9(4), pp. 412–415. doi: 10.1080/10903120500253813.
Safurah, J. et al. (2013) ‘Malaysia Health System Review, Health Systems in Transition. World Health Organization’
Sánchez-Mangas, R., García-Ferrrer, A., de Juan, A., Arroyo, A. M. (2010) ‘The probability of death in road traffic accidents. How important is a quick medical response?’, Accident; Analysis and Prevention, 42(4), pp. 1048–1056. doi: 10.1016/j.aap.2009.12.012.
Sanddal, T. L., Sanddal, N. D., Ward, N., Stanley, L. (2010) ‘Ambulance Crash Characteristics in the US Defined by the Popular Press: A Retrospective Analysis’, Emergency Medicine International, 2010, p. 1-7. doi: 10.1155/2010/525979.
Vijaindren, A. and Jay, B. N. (2019) ‘“Ambulance Crash Not An Isolated Tragedy”’, Malay Mail, 6 August.
Weiss, S. J., Ellis, R., Ernst, A. A., Land, R. F., Garza, A.. (2001) ‘A comparison of rural and urban ambulance crashes’, The American Journal of Emergency Medicine, 19(1), pp. 52–56. doi: 10.1053/ajem.2001.20001
Yasmin, S., Anowar, S. and Tay, R. (2014) “Injury Risk of Traffic Accidents Involving Emergency Vehicles in Alberta”. Available at: https://ctrf.ca/wp content/uploads/2014/07/4YasminAnowarTayInjuryRiskofTraffic.pdf
Zainal Abidin, A. N. S., Abdul Rahim, M. M., Wong, S. V., Radin Sohadi, R. U. (2009) Single-Vehicle Accidents Involving Trees in Malaysia – a Preliminary Study. Research Report. Malaysian Institute of Road Safety Research. Available at: http://www.miros.gov.my/web/guest/reports%5Cnhttps://trid.trb.org/view/1149610
Published
2022-07-20
How to Cite
ABU BAKAR, Salwana; ISMAIL, Masrol Hafizal; ABDULLAH, Zalilah.
Ministry of Health Ambulance Accidents: A Retrospective Analysis.
Journal of Health Management, [S.l.], v. 18, n. 2, p. 26-36, july 2022.
ISSN 2948-5126.
Available at: <https://myjms.mohe.gov.my/index.php/johm/article/view/18871>. Date accessed: 11 oct. 2024.
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