KUCHING: The proposed air ambulance service in the country will facilitate rescue operations faster, especially in the interior and rural areas.
Minister of Health Dr Zaliha Mustafa said the service is slightly similar to the flying doctor service provided in Sarawak.
“The Ministry of Health (MOH) welcomes the effort by the Ministry of Local Government Development (KPKT).
“They will help us (MOH) from several angles, such as flying patients from rural areas to hospitals.
“Furthermore, we will also have further discussion with them on other areas that both parties can work on,” she said in a press conference after officiating at the First Global Surgery Conference: The New Dawn at the Waterfront Hotel here today (Mar 19).
Elaborating, Dr Zaliha said that in addition to providing services in rural areas, the air ambulance service can also help individuals who get into road accidents.
“Taking an example of a situation, if there is an accident on the highway and the road is very congested, this air ambulance will make it easier to transport the patient to a nearby hospital,” she pointed out.
Earlier, the KPKT plans to collaborate with MOH to form an air ambulance using the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) helicopters.
Local Government Development Minister Nga Kor Ming said that if the initiative could be achieved by the end of this year, it would save the government at least RM15 million per year.
The air ambulance service is, among others, for efforts to rescue victims from remote areas and road accident cases on highways.
Meanwhile, when asked whether the MOH has the plan to increase the number of plastic surgeons in Sarawak, particularly to treat burn patients, Dr Zaliha said the country needs more specialists, not just plastic surgeons.
“Actually, we need more specialists in all disciplines, not just one.”
“But we are planning ahead to get more specialists, and we are looking to have at least over 20,000 specialists by 2030,” she said.
Therefore, she said training is crucial in order to get more doctors to become specialists.
