Response to The Straits Times Forum Letter on "NSF's death: Doctor queries medical protocol in field, SAF centres"

The SAF maintains high medical safety standards
We thank Dr Ng Shin Yi for his forum letter on 19 April 2012 titled "NSF's death: Doctor queries medical protocol in field, SAF centres".

The SAF's emergency medical support system (EMSS) is built upon the "Chain of Survival" process adopted by the American Heart Association.  The EMSS chain comprises five key components - Early Access (to medical attention), Buddy Aid (including cardiopulmonary resuscitation), Basic Life Support and Early Defibrillation, Advanced Resuscitation, and Evacuation for Continuing Care. Every link in this chain is designed to provide the best possible medical care for our soldiers in both training and operations. 

All SAF medical centres have an Emergency Resuscitation Facility (ERF) to handle medical emergencies. These are modelled after emergency resuscitation bays in hospitals' emergency departments. SAF medical officers stationed at the ERF are trained and accredited in advanced clinical resuscitation protocols, including Advanced Cardiac Life Support, Advanced Trauma Life Support and Emergency Airway Management.

Medical evacuation is an important component of EMSS. The principle is to evacuate an injured serviceman to an emergency medical facility with the appropriate level of care within the shortest possible time. This can either be the nearest ERF within an SAF medical centre or a restructured hospital's emergency department. All SAF medical personnel are trained to decide on the most appropriate facility to evacuate an injured serviceman to in an emergency.

Dr Ng also asked about the training of our frontline medical personnel.  SAF medics undergo systematic training on paramedic protocols for medical emergencies that they are likely to encounter.  This training is developed in conjunction with the Justice Institute of British Columbia, a leading educator for training pre-hospital care paramedics.  In addition, SAF medical personnel regularly conduct team-based training in managing medical emergencies.  In 2011, the SAF introduced mobile medical evaluation teams to assess the medical response standards of the entire EMSS.  This stress-testing and evaluation allows the SAF to continually improve its EMSS capability and proficiency.

The SAF's EMSS is endorsed by the SAF Emergency Medicine Specialist Advisory Board, which comprises senior emergency medicine and trauma surgery specialists from Singapore's restructured hospitals.  This clinical governance framework ensures that the SAF's evacuation policy, training, medical equipping and protocols are continually benchmarked against best clinical practice guidelines.

MINDEF would like to assure the public that while the training remains tough and realistic, the SAF also maintains high safety standards to ensure that the safety of our soldiers is not compromised.

Colonel (Dr) Kang Wee Lee
Chief of Medical Corps
Singapore Armed Forces

 
MINDEF's reply was published as "SAF explains its emergency medical protocol", The Straits Times, 21 Apr 12