Cebu City going after colorum ambulances

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City is set to crack down on colorum ambulances. This after Cebu City councilor Rey Gealon, who also heads the City’s Traffic Management and Coordination Committee, supported the Department of Transportation’s move to crack down on colorum ambulances to ensure road safety.

DOTR through its Special Action and Intelligence Committee for Transportation (DOTr-SAICT) started this month with the orientation on apprehending colorum ambulances alongside the Department of Health and the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) in Quezon City.

The orientation was also supported by other government agencies and volunteer groups.

This initiative aims to address and resolve issues regarding colorum ambulances, as well as the proper use of blinkers and sirens in authorized ambulances in the country.

It was noted that there has been a misuse of ambulances and proliferation of the deceptive practice of marking vehicles as "Ambulance" to exploit the right of way.

DOTR-SAICT emphasized earlier that this does not only harm and endanger the public but also undermines the true purpose of ambulances. DOTR is also expecting everyone’s cooperation to put a stop to the detrimental practice and ensure the safety and integrity of ambulance services for everyone.

“I share the same sentiments,” Gealon said while also saying that it is a step towards the right direction.

Yesterday, DOTR-SAICT reported to have issued citations to three ambulances with blinkers that used EDSA’s busway to avoid traffic even without patients on board.

Gealon earlier also pushed for the Cebu City Medical Center “to acquire ergonomically-designed ambulances for all medical emergencies and not improvised ambulances like vans or multicabs.” This is also to ensure optimal design that enables responders to provide efficient and effective patient care.

Gealon said that CCMC has to provide adequate medical care to the underprivileged sector of the city's population with ambulance services providing prompt medical care to patients and ensure that they receive immediate attention and care.

He said ambulance design plays a significant role in how emergency medical services personnel perform their duties, and any design that is not optimal may threaten the personnel's capacity to provide efficient and effective patient care, transport, and handling. — (FREEMAN)