Mobile pod trial for emergency medical services to improve ambulance coverage and response times
The dynamic deployment pod will be stationed at Jurong Lake Gardens in the first three months, before moving to Toa Payoh public library for the next three months.
Singapore Civil Defence Force emergency medical services crew using the Dynamic Deployment Pod as a deployment site for ambulances, located at Jurong Lake Gardens on Feb 25, 2025. (Photo: CNA/Ili Nadhirah Mansor)
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SINGAPORE: With a new mobile pod for emergency medical services, the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) may see improved response times in the heartlands.
It's part of a trial that will see a team of three ambulance crew members stationed at the pod from 9.30am to 7.30pm every day from Feb 28. With their ambulance parked next to them, they can leave directly from where the pod is located.
The mobile pod – or dynamic deployment pod – will be stationed at Jurong Lake Gardens for the first three months of the trial and then at Toa Payoh public library for the next three months, said SCDF on Wednesday (Feb 26) in a media factsheet.
In 2024, SCDF responded to 245,279 calls for emergency medical services, or an average of 672 calls every day – 57 per cent higher than in 2014.
The number of calls for emergency medical services is expected to increase partly due to Singapore’s ageing population, said SCDF in the factsheet.
The pods will allow SCDF to expand its coverage to areas with higher ambulance call volumes, including residential neighbourhoods, said Lieutenant Colonel Amelia Lim, a senior assistant director with the plans and policy branch of SCDF’s emergency medical services department.
“The pod enhances coverage in areas without permanent fire stations or fire posts,” she added.
“By improving response time to life threatening emergencies, we hope to increase the chances of survival for those who are in emergencies.”
SCDF’s current target is to respond to 80 per cent of all emergency medical calls within 11 minutes, she noted.
According to projections, with the pod deployed at Jurong Lake Gardens, this will improve the figures in the area by 1 to 2 percentage points, said LTC Lim.
The pods were inspired by gym pods and isolated working spaces that became prevalent during the COVID-19 pandemic, she added.
After the trial, SCDF has plans to deploy eight to 10 more pods, said LTC Lim.
SCDF has 95 operational ambulances as of February this year, up from 50 in 2014. There are currently 23 fire stations, 30 fire posts and eight dynamic deployment bases where ambulances can be deployed from.
SCDF will still prioritise having fixed infrastructure like fire posts or fire stations, but the pod will complement them, said LTC Lim.
“In places where we may need some time to build up a fire post, then we can have the pod in place first so we can move the ambulance earlier before we actually set up the infrastructure in the future,” she added.
