This city faces a serious ambulance-shortage and must act soon to improve its emergency services, according to a deputy to the Shanghai Municipal People's Congress.

Chai Junyong proposed that the city increase the size of its ambulance fleet and that medical services available through the city's '120' medical emergency hotline be expanded.

Last year, Shanghai had one ambulance for every 70,000 residents. The national standard is one ambulance for every 50,000 residents.

Chai said he had investigated the city's ambulance fleet and found that 38 of its 278 ambulances needed to be replaced. He said the vehicles should be replaced every eight to 10 years in order to keep the fleet in good working condition.

The deputy noted that city officials had been receiving a growing number of complaints about the '120' emergency center.

Although Shanghai's emergency network is meant to cover the whole city, the service cannot meet public demand, he said.

In addition to the problems with the city's ambulance fleet, Chai said he also found a shortage of manpower. Some 1,293 people work for the city's medical emergency department, which means less than five staff members are assigned to each ambulance. That is less than the amount needed to ensure optimal service.

Medical staff have to work extra hours to make up for the manpower shortage. He added that though these people work in a high-intensity, difficult environment and shoulder great risks and responsibility, they are poorly paid and have limited career options.

As a result, many university graduates are reluctant to work for the city's emergency services department. For example, last year the municipal emergency center recruited only two local university graduates, Chai said.

Chai suggested that staff working for the city's emergency departments should receive the same pay as medical staff at the same level working in other departments.

He said non-local medical graduates recruited by the emergency department should also receive favorable policies for residential registration.

(China Daily January 31, 2007)