BANGKOK, 16 April 2015 – The Ministry of Public Health is pleased with the performance of its emergency assistance units during the Songkran holiday while setting a target to further promote its emergency hotline 1669. Public Health Minister Dr Rajata Rajatanavin stated that a flood of assistance requests were made by victims of road accidents to the 1669 emergency hotline during the seven dangerous days of Songkran. As a result, a total of 8,732 hospital transport trips were successfully made by the ministry’s rescue units, equivalent to a third of the nationwide figure.
Nonetheless, the minister admitted that it remains crucial to make people more familiar with the 1669 hotline to increase their access to emergency assistance. He said coordination between the rescuers and the police also needs to be improved for quicker operations. As for community checkpoints set up by the ministry across the nation during the festive period, Dr Rajata indicated that they were highly efficient in preventing road accidents and casualties.
Based on a survey of 206 checkpoints in 10 provinces, there were no fatalities on roads in their surroundings and only minor injuries were sustained from accidents by some motorists. Several drunk drivers were also intercepted at the checkpoints and were sent home safely.
