Ride-hailing giant Grab has launched a new “non-emergency” transport service to ferry stable and clinically-well individuals to hospitals, such as those who are on Stay-Home Notice (SHN) or are suspect COVID-19 cases.
Called GrabResponse, this service was piloted in late March to support the Ministry of Health’s (MOH) efforts to complement existing ambulance services.
According to Grab, over 250 Grab driver-partners have volunteered to join this initiative. They have been trained by the Singapore Civil Defence Force and are progressively being rostered on eight-hour shifts for the 24-hour service.
This service is only available to authorised MOH dispatchers, who can make a booking to transfer a stable and clinically-well case to healthcare facilities on a dedicated tech platform.
This platform was developed to ensure seamless allocation of GrabResponse vehicles as and when the need for one arises.
Vehicles assigned to the GrabResponse service are not deployed for any other Grab services, and drivers must clean and disinfect their vehicles after completing each trip.
Drivers are also required to put on masks and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) for every trip, as well as discard their protective gear at designated decontamination zones.
The next few weeks will be crucial in Singapore’s fight against COVID-19, and we see a role where we can harness our platform and technology to complement local healthcare efforts.
GrabResponse, like the GrabCare service, is our way of extending dedicated support to the healthcare sector.
– Yee Wee Tang, Managing Director of Grab Singapore.
How Grab Is Supporting S’pore’s Fight Against COVID-19
Since the start of COVID-19, Grab has introduced initiatives to support and safeguard the well-being of all users on the platform, as well as extending help to the larger community in Singapore.
Specific to healthcare workers, Grab has earlier launched GrabCare, a dedicated, round-the-clock, on-demand service enabling healthcare professionals to travel to and from over 14 medical facilities seamlessly. The service is currently supported by over 10,000 driver-partners.
In addition, Grab is supporting meals donation efforts by Gourmet Food Holdings, Zouk Group and Motherswork to deliver 2,500 food items to frontline healthcare workers in April.
The GrabHitch community also pitched in, partnering the Ministry of Culture, Community and Youth, to deliver some 1,200 bento meals to healthcare workers in polyclinics islandwide.
As communities band together to work on various programmes in the fight against COVID-19, Grab has also contributed $60,000 from its COVID-19 Community Fund to the CDC Student Meals Scheme.
The scheme provides $55 in GrabFood vouchers to 12,000 students from low-income households to buy subsidised meals from 7,000 participating GrabFood merchants that offer self pick-up.
Grab is also partnering the People’s Association Women’s Integrated Network Council and Temasek Foundation to support the Mask Sewn with Love movement by helping to deliver cloth to volunteers to sew 50,000 masks for those in need, including the elderly and children.
Grab said that it will continue to work closely with our community to provide our support and more assistance where required.
Featured Image Credit: Grab
