The acting chief of the Fire Services Bureau’s (CB) Research and Planning Department, Chan Meng, announced yesterday that since January the bureau had transported 1,729 COVID-19-related patients.
Chan announced the first-half fire statistics during a press conference at the CB headquarters in Nam Van.
Chan said that the 1,729 cases involved 2,448 people (1,195 males and 1,253 females). He said that each time the front-line personnel were dressed in full personal protective equipment (PPE) before transporting the patients.
Moreover, the bureau recorded 378 fires in the first six months of the year, down by 15.25 percent year-on-year. Chan said the reason for the decrease was mainly because the number of people who forgot to turn off their stoves went down. “This could be because people were staying at home more often due to the pandemic”, added Chan.
The bureau also recorded a 15.86 percent decrease in ambulance callouts to18,176 in the first half of the year. Chan said this was due to fact that the number of visitor arrivals dropped which led to a decrease in the number of ambulance callouts.
Before the press conference, Chan told reporters that even though the government has tightened the bureau’s budget for next year, there was a sufficient amount of money available to purchase essential equipment, stressing that operations would not be affected. Chan also said there were enough staff in the bureau to handle the current workload.
The acting chief of the Fire Services Bureau’s (CB) Research and Planning Department, Chan Meng, talks to reporters before yesterday’s press conference at the CB headquarters in Nam Van. Courtesy to TDM
