Yesterday, after a very normal and monotonous day at work, I went home with packed dinner. At about close to 7pm, I was preparing my packed dinner when I heard commotion outside. Wanting to break from the monotonous cycle, I went out to kaypo lar.
There was a lady laying face down on the concrete bricked road. A man in his mid-40s was standing over her telling her not to move. Two policemen were present as well.. with their neatly pressed blue uniform.
Hmm.. Policemen around. Things should be OK now.
And being typical Malaysians, some of the apartment dwellers were gathering around the incident. So I asked one of them.
Me : Eh.. what happened ar?
Lady : *shrugs shoulders* Dunno..
Me : *turning to another* what happened ar?
Lady 2 : She fell
Me : Wah.. from which floor? Ambulance?
Lady 2 : Dunno..
But all of them standing around.. about 10 paces away.
I walked towards the man standing over the vicitim while observing the victim. Not much trauma. Not much blood. But her left arm has been severed at the bones with only flesh and skin holding the two parts together.
Me : Has anyone called for an ambulance?
Man : Yes Yes… *pointing to the policemen* they called already
Me : So how is she? What happened?
Man : She tried to commit suicide. So she jumped from that window *pointing at a window 5 floors up*
Woah… 5 floors up unto hard concrete floor. By that time, she was wriggling around slowly and moaning in pain.
I turned to the policemen. (Note : Spoke Bahasa to them but for the benefit of non-bahasa readers, I took the liberty of translating our conversation)
Me : When will the ambulance arrive?
Police : Dunno lar.
Me : Who you called?
Police : Ambulance lar.
Me : Which hospital did you call for the ambulance service?
Police : I called ambulance lar
At this point, I was a little bit frustrated already.
Me : You got the motorbike. There is a hospital about 2 minutes away. It would be wise to ride there and, at the very least, get a trained medical personnel to come and access/stabilise the situation.
Policemen : *looks at me.. blink blink… * Ya ya..
Then he whipped out his handphone and called someone.
Policemen : Eh.. mana you ar?…. Sg. Besi ar? Aiya.. *rubs forehead… hang up*
He then proceeded to flip up his notebook and started to jot something. Hmm.. whatever happened to going for help?
Screw it lar. I dashed upstairs, grabbed my wallet and car keys and rushed back down. And I heard one of the policemen rode away in his bike. The other policemen stayed back and he told me that his member already went out to get help. Fine.
So everything settled. So I went back up to my apartment. 30 minutes later, no sign of ambulance or that policeman. I could not just stand one side and put all hope on the policemen. And no one seems to be doing anything except stand a distant, watching while relating what happened to new comers.
So I took my car and told one of them standing around that I am going to the hospital nearby to get help. He jumped in as well. While my Gen2 struggled through the hilly terrains of my area, the man’s wife called to say that the ambulance had arrived.
So, from initial call for ambulance from the police to the actual arrival of the ambulance… 45 minutes.
What’s so disappointing?
Respond Time
45 minutes wait for medical help. Can it be any longer? Dem.. I hope they manage to finish their evening cup of tea before they walked towards their ambulance.
Incompetent Security Guards
They totally did not know what to do. They had to be told. I asked them to get a bike to go to the hospital. That guard ran to his booth, ran one round and came back to tell me got no bike. Then I asked him to call that hospital. He told me no number.
Equally Incompetent Police
They too did not know what to do. Why whip out your notebook to take statement? Dun they know that their first priority is to ensure that the injured get medical help? The hospital was 2 minutes away. He left and did not return till 30 minutes later. I dun think he even went to that hospital.
I was expecting wailing sirens and screeching tryes within about 5-10 minutes. Maybe I watched too much TV. But come on lar. There is a hospital 2 minutes away. Why wait for a University Hospital (about 20 minutes away) to respond?
Anyways, the victim was taken away safely. Do not know the outcome yet. I did not go look while they move her. Her arm might probably fall away. I dun think I can take that sight.
