A few hundred metres away paramedics from Nong Khai race to save the life of a motorcycle accident victim.

This may sound like the mother of all emergencies, but thankfully it was only an exercise. After eight hours a whistle sounded to signal the teams to stop their life-saving efforts.

Around 200 paramedics from all over the Northeast attended the Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Rally last week, said to be the first of its kind to be carried out in this country, at a 60-rai area beside Khon Kaen's Bueng Kaen Nakhon freshwater lake.

The Nakhon Ratchasima team received applause from the crowd of onlookers as the monitor screen on their defibrillator showed that their Bt1-million robot patient was back in the land of the living.

The team from Chaiyaphum was also successful in their attempts to save the lives of both the mother and her child.

Unfortunately, the Nong Khai team failed to save their road accident victim.

The medical emergency simulation, which has been adopted from Japan, will prove invaluable for medical doctors, nurses and health officers to save lives in real emergencies.

Up to half of all victims of emergency situations in Thailand die at the scene, while 35 per cent die after one or two hours, said Dr Witaya Chadbunchachai, head of the World Health Organisation Centre for Injury and Prevention and Safety Promotion.

Fifteen per cent of victims die after being admitted to hospital, he added.

"With such a window of opportunity for life saving, more lives can be saved and disabilities and illnesses mitigated with an improvement of the country's EMS system," he said.

Of the approximately 3.5 million incidents requiring emergency medical services per year nationwide, only about 100,000 cases are responded to adequately due to the lack of capacity in the country's EMS system, said Dr Surachet Satitniramai, director of the Bureau of Emergency Medical Service.

Many victims' lives are left in the hands of rescue volunteers whose knowledge of EMS is next to zero, he said.

In a bid to resolve the problem, the Public Health Ministry recently mapped out a plan to reform the country's EMS

system.

The master plan has already been drafted and is awaiting consideration by the Cabinet.

In the meantime, activities such as the EMS Rally are being conducted and expanded to all parts of the country.

"How many of you know 199? And then how many of you recognise 1669 [Thailand's similar service]?" Witaya asked.

Arthit Khwankhom

The Nation

Khon Kaen