Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong has personally written to thank the Singapore Civil Defence Force, posting a copy of the letter on his Facebook page.

This was after the SCDF swiftly attended to Minister Heng Swee Keat after he collapsed during a Cabinet meeting on May 12.

In the thank you letter, PM Lee also revealed what happened the moment Heng collapsed.

Here are some details from the thank you letter about what happened that day that had not been revealed to the media yet:

- SCDF responded within seven minutes after 995 was dialled

- Janil Puthucheary, a doctor, resuscitated Heng

- Janil made a presumptive diagnosis on Heng's condition and was hyperventilating him to relieve pressure on his brain and reduce the swelling

- Janil followed Heng in the ambulance

It was previously reported that there were three doctors present during the Cabinet meeting, although it was not disclosed who had attended to Heng personally.

SCDF's fast response is commendable.

The current response time of the SCDF is 11 minutes, 80 per cent of the time, according to Ng Yih Yng, Chief Medical Officer of SCDF.

One reason for the fast response could be due to the fact that the ambulance was deployed from Tanglin Neighbourhood Police Centre (NPC).

The officers were all from the Central Fire Station at Hill Street.

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