Ambulance Accessibility Issues at Private Condominiums and Emergency Response Mitigation Measures

Ms Valerie Lee asked the Coordinating Minister for National Security and Minister for Home Affairs (a) whether all SCDF ambulances are able to gain easy access to lift lobbies of private condominiums/apartments, considering the height restrictions of some sheltered/basement carparks; and (b) if not, what are the mitigation measures to ensure emergency services reach the person in distress promptly.

Mr K Shanmugam: The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) ambulances require a minimum clearance height of 3.0 metres. Many private residential basement carparks are built up to only 2.2 metres.

In such cases, the ambulance crew will request the condominium management or security officers to provide access through alternative routes. In most of the cases, the ambulance crew had been able to get to the patients in a timely manner.

In March 2024, SCDF and the Building and Construction Authority issued a joint advisory on ambulance access to buildings to the building industry. This included raising the clearance height for ambulance access to a minimum of 3.0 metres.