Speedoc, the ‘Grab’ for doctors, has partnered ambulance operator, Comfort Ambulance & Services Pte Ltd (Comfort Ambulance), adding an ambulance-hailing feature to its app.
This is in response to meet the rising demand for private ambulances as the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) halted its non-emergency ambulance services in April.
Dr Shravan Verma, CEO of Speedoc, said that users now can get a private ambulance “within minutes”.
“The app is available round the clock and users will be informed of the charges before they confirm their bookings.”
Charges for booking an ambulance are based on timing, location, and day.
The app promises to be transparent with their fees, for example, if a patient uses oxygen therapy and stretchers, fees are clearly listed.
Speedoc app users can call on Comfort Ambulance’s fleet of 25 ambulances for transport from anywhere in Singapore to more than 100 healthcare institutions islandwide, including hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices.
According to Speedoc, 995 calls to SCDF have been rising in the last decade overall and that was a move that allows SCDF to better respond to life-threatening cases.
With Speedoc’s ambulance-hailing feature, users who need a private ambulance don’t have to call over 20 operators individually or the 1777 hotline and wait for a long time for an ambulance to be confirmed.
Speedoc doctors themselves have had to wait for as long as two hours when they needed to call for a private ambulance to send a patient to a hospital.
Situations such as pneumonia and serious skin infections are not life threatening but patients suffering from these conditions may need to be sent to a hospital as soon as possible for treatment, the firm explained.
Other patients may be bedridden, requiring them to be transported in a stretcher.
We take pride in ensuring the utmost safety when transporting our patients – all our paramedics and ambulance drivers are certified and accredited by the Ministry of Health with Emergency Medical Technician Basic (EMTB) qualification, Automated External Defribillator (AED) and Basic Cardiac Life Support (BCLS) certification.
Dr Daniel Chan, Group Deputy CEO of Fullerton Healthcare Group which owns Comfort Ambulance
Speedoc is currently working with other ambulance operators to get more of them on board the app.
Dr Shravan added, “Eventually we want to gain the economies of scale and bring down the cost of private ambulance booking for Singaporeans.”
Featured Image Credit: Speedoc
