What would you do if you needed to take a blood test at the hospital?

Normally, you would apply for time off from work, look up directions to the hospital and take the bus. Those feeling rich will take a taxi.

Someone decided that dialling 995 to call for an ambulance was the right thing to do.

Weird reasons

Senior Parliamentary Secretary for Home Affairs Amrin Amin posted on Facebook a list of "weird " 995 calls the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) have received.

Here are the five that Amrin shared:

1. Caller called 995 because he was unable to urinate after 3 beers.

2. Another dialled 995 because he woke up with a headache.

3. A caller said he had toothache.

4. He needed to go hospital for a blood test and called 995.

5. The caller asked for an ambulance due to sore eyes.

Amrin said that "995 is for serious, life-threatening emergencies. A minute can make a difference between life and death."

He went on to elaborate that using an ambulance for non-emergency cases may deprive someone else with a real emergency, like a heart attack, of the ambulance.

He asked for people to dial 1777 for non-emergency cases instead.

Here's his Facebook post:

It is not true that the ambulance dispatched by SCDF is a form of free transportation to the hospital all the time.

According to Factually, for non-emergency cases, the ambulance costs S$274. It is only free for true emergencies.

It is also false that you get priority to see the doctor in the hospital's A&E department if you arrive by ambulance.

Patients arriving at the A&E will be assessed and priority will be given to the most critical cases first.

[related_story]

Content that keeps Mothership.sg going

?
What was the last thing you used this place for? (Somebody said paktor, meet boys?) This is what you can do these days!

⛔?
Life's a beach sometimes but these girls really shouldn't be in swimwear...

?
Have a little money but can't help being kinda lazy? You can still invest using this.