One day, you find an emergency situation in Jakarta. At that time, you were confused about how to get help immediately and called an ambulance. You don't remember the phone numbers of the hospital or emergency call center. In this state of panic, you remember that now Jakarta has the JakAmbulans feature in the JAKI Application. As soon as possible you press the emergency button on the feature.
Not long after, the officer contacted you and asked for the patient's identity, condition of the patient, and the address. The ambulance arrived promptly at the scene and the patient was brought safely to the hospital. You can breathe a sigh of relief and thank the Emergency Ambulance officer.
Despite it all, the officers resumed their day to handle another emergency call. The next day the same task awaited them again. Their daily life is composed of days of devotion. This is their story.
Behind the Scenes of JakAmbulans
Behind the JakAmbulans feature, of course there are teams from Jakarta Smart City who help develop it so that it could be included in the JAKI application. But apart from that, the Jakarta Health Agency's Emergency Ambulance (AGD) officers are on the ground to help the residents of Jakarta. Behind the emergency button that you can find in the JAKI application, there are many officers working hard everyday. To understand better, Mr. Yandi Suhardi as Duty Manager of AGD in Jakarta Health Agency who has worked for 6 years will guide you.
"When there is an incoming call from a Jakarta resident via JakAmbulans, a notification will be sent to the Jakarta Health Agency's ambulance call center application," Mr. Yandi said.
After that, the call will be followed up by calling residents who need an ambulance in less than three minutes. Then, the officer will ask about the identity, address, and the patient’s detailed complaints. The call center team will then assign AGD officers in the field to send the ambulance closest to the patient's location.
With the existence of JakAmbulans, Pak Yandi as an employee at the Jakarta Health Agency has hope that Jakarta residents can use this feature wisely, because many other residents need emergency ambulance assistance in a short time.
Apart from Pak Yandi who served as Duty Manager, of course there were other AGD officers from the Jakarta Health Agency who served in the ambulance and went to the field to meet people in need. Among them is Mr. Ikhwan Zulmi (31 years), who has served in the Jakarta Health Agency’s AGD team since January 2017. Mr. Ikhwan stated that every time he is on duty, there is a roll call to ensure the readiness of the officers and the readiness of the ambulance. If it is declared prepared, then the officer is ready to accept the call of duty at any time.
When receiving a case, the officer will ask the patient's name, age, and condition. After that the officer will ask the details of their location/address. For non-Covid-19 patients, after everything is ready, the officers can be deployed immediately. Meanwhile, for critical Covid-19 cases, there is an additional 20-30 minutes to give time for officers to dress in complete PPE (Personal Protective Equipment) gear.
When asked about the most memorable experience, Mr. Ikhwan remembered the times when he had just joined the Jakarta Health Agency’s AGD team and he still lacked experience. At that time, he was faced with an overweight patient who had a heart attack. The patient's condition at that time was unconscious and his position was in the room. After Pak Ikhwan stabilized the patient, the patient was wrapped in a cloth, because he could not use a stretcher and the room door was not wide enough to take the patient outside. "Thankfully, the patient survived and arrived at the ER," remembers Mr. Ikhwan.
On the other side of the coin, another emergency room officer named Novita Hapsari (30 years) once faced an overweight patient who was restless and difficult to calm down. This happened when there was a request for a referral to transfer a patient from a hospital in Central Jakarta to a hospital in North Jakarta. With the patient's condition being difficult to calm, Mrs. Novita with three other officers at that time tried to calm the patient as optimally as possible. The sedative only lasted a few minutes so the officers had to work harder.
Obstacles Faced by AGD Officers
Both Mr. Ikhwan and Mrs. Novita have faced problems being an AGD officer in Jakarta. Mrs. Novita feels that Jakarta's congested traffic conditions are one of the obstacles that they often face. Sometimes Mrs. Novita and the team have to go down a narrow road in the form of alleys between houses that are difficult to pass, not to mention the energy will be more drained if the patient is on the 2nd and 3rd floors while there is no family who can help to move the patient.
"How can we still evacuate in a safe manner" is the most important thing according to Mrs. Novita.
In addition to the constraints of location experienced by Mrs. Novita, Mr. Ikhwan also felt how difficult it was to deal with patients in the midst of the Covid-19 pandemic. When there was a surge in cases in Jakarta a couple of weeks ago and most hospitals were full. Ambulance officers could not take patients to hospitals, oxygen in ambulances was limited and operators had difficulty finding empty hospitals. In the end, the officers on board conducted on-site education to the patient's family. The patient's family was asked to find oxygen and help find a hospital that could accommodate the patient.
"The conditions in the field are very different from those in the hospital," said Mr. Ikhwan. He acknowledged that AGD officers had to have multiple roles, as medic, drivers, and even security.
For the development of JakAmbulans in the future, Mrs. Novita hopes that the emergency service process can be more evenly distributed and can be handled faster. Meanwhile, Mr. Ikhwan hopes that JakAmbulans can make ambulances in Jakarta easier to contact. The sooner they arrive, the more efficient they are so that the officers can help people in need.
Use JakAmbulans Wisely
From the story above, as you know, to help residents in dealing with emergency situations, the Jakarta Provincial Government through the Jakarta Smart City and Jakarta Health Agency now has developed the JakAmbulans feature in the JAKI application. The feature is meant to help people in requesting emergency medical services as effectively as possible.
Here are the easy steps to use JakAmbulans:
Open the JAKI App
Select the "JakAmbulans" menu
Enter your mobile number to get a confirmation call from the Jakarta Health Agency officer.
Press and hold the emergency button for 3 seconds
Wait for the officer to contact you
So as you now know, simply by pressing the emergency button, your emergency condition can be followed up immediately.
AGD officers in the field have worked hard and as optimally as possible so that ambulance services can get to the residents in need. The challenges and the ups and downs faced by officers will always be ready to be handled in order to help the residents of Jakarta. Therefore, let's use this feature wisely. Help to tell people around you about the JakAmbulans feature so more Jakarta residents will know that now calling an ambulance for emergency conditions is easier with just one touch of the emergency button.
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