Shanghai improves emergency services

Shanghai now has 175 emergency service stations, including 10 that were added just this year. Each station covers a radius of 3.4 kilometers, and the average ambulance response time is now 13 minutes, down from 16 minutes in 2016.

Looking ahead, the city is further improving its emergency services and intends to build more such stations, particularly in areas with new residential complexes and rural areas. Another 14 stations are planned for next year, said officials from Shanghai Health Commission on Thursday.

And by 2020, ambulance response times will be shortened to be less than 12 minutes, the commission said.

The new Jiangqiao North Station is one of the 10 stations established this year. Jiangqiao receives about 7,000 ambulance emergency calls per year, or nearly 20 every day. In peak times, ambulances from nearby districts had to be dispatched to offer support, which led to prolonged waits during emergency situations.

The new Jiangqiao North Station eases the earlier ambulance and staff shortage. The service radius of emergency medical stations in the entire Jiangqiao area has dropped from 3.69 kilometers to 2.61 kilometers, improving efficiency as a result, officials said.

The new Zhuanqiao Station in Minhang District started operation on September 19, and since then it has performed some 530 ambulance procedures.

All ambulances in Minhang District have been equipped with portable blood data testing machines. These can collect critical data related to serious medical events such as stroke and heart attack while the patient is still on board, saving time later at hospital emergency departments.

Door-to-balloon time (a measure of time during emergency cardiac events) for patients with myocardial infarction in Minhang has been reduced to 60 minutes, while the average time is 90 minutes in Shanghai and 120 minutes in China. A shorter time means higher chances of survival.