Battles of the Bodysnatchers

[GWR]

2001 article. A few of the problems of over-enthusiastic amateurs have probably improved a bit, but I doubt that much has really changed. Cerainly now, it is much more common to see an apparently well-equipped hospital ambulance in attendance at accidents, but I have no idea what experience the drivers have.(Although, nurses also travel in many of these vehicles.)The first article (labels the work of the likes of the Por Tek Teung Foundation (PTTF) 'Pre-Hospital Care':-

http://www.ambulansforum.se/PAM/reportage/bangkok.shtml

Annual economic losses from motor vehicle crashes were estimated 1996 to 360 million dollar which is nearly double the amount of the entire budget of the Ministry of Public Health.


Stuart Issett's pictures of the PTTF in action (slideshow):-

http://www.flickr.com/photos/stuartisett/sets/72057594064334286/

2Bkk Frontpage picture of a PTTF pickup communicates a rather flippant approach to this vital work:-

http://www.2bangkok.com/images/rescue.jpg

[Jromerz]

It seems that there are MUCH more volunteer emergency/rescue foundations now than ever before. In the past the main one was Poh Tek Tung, and there were a few others, also with Chinese names. In English they are often referred to as body collectors, they would sometimes even fight over which foundation would get to collect the bodies..

These days however there seem to be so many more of them everywhere, and they normally don't have Chinese names - just says "Ruam Kattanyu" on the trucks. How do they work? Does a group of people just get together and decide that they want to be volunteer rescuers then put stickers on their trucks, a flashing light on the roof, and get some uniforms?
Do they have to register with the police or another government agency before they can operate?

[Jromerz]

Here is a very graphic clip of a terrible accident:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTlZyEnzs9k


As you can see in the clip there are also children in uniforms as part of the rescue team... Children are part of a body collecting foundation?!

[GWR]

100 Ruam Katanyu rescuers rally following fight, shooting incidents


About 100 rescuers held a demonstration at a Bangkok petrol station early Sunday morning after their colleagues were shot at by rescuers from a rival foundation.

The rally took place at 3:20 am inside the Petronas petrol station on Sukhapibal 2 Road in Bung Kum district.

While they were rallying inside the petrol station, their rival rescuers from the Siam Ruam Jai Foundation drove their vehicles around the area.

The Ruam Katanyu rescuers demanded police to take legal action against Siam Ruam Jai rescuers who shot and injured two Ruam Katanyu rescuers Saturday night.

The Ruam Katanyu rescuers said a group of over 10 Siam Ruam Jai beat up a Ruam Katanyu rescuer after he rescued a man from a road accident and was about to send the accident victim to a hospital.

Police intervened in the fight and the Siam Ruam Jai rescuers backed off.

But while the Ruam Katanyu rescuers were taking the accident victim to a hospital, a group of Siam Ruam Jai staff followed and opened fire at them twice, injuring two Ruam Katanyu rescuers.

The Ruam Katanyu rescuers ended their rally after police promised to investigate and bring the wrongdoers to justice.

The Nation


http://www.nationmultimedia.com/breakingnews/read.php?newsid=30049115

[GWR]

Ambulance workers' turf war
Published on December 26, 2007

Rescue workers from the Por Tek Teung Foundation filed a police complaint yesterday accusing rescue workers from the rival Pirun Foundation of assaulting them near Bangkok's On Nut Soi 7 on Monday night.

They also asked police to arrest people who reportedly shot at a Por Tek Teung vehicle, which was parked in front of Phra Khanong police station a few hours after the assault.

Por Tek Teung workers Chucheap Boonseng, 34, and Dome Prasongsap, 50, said in their complaint they heard a communication radio report around 11pm on Monday about a motorcycle accident in On Nut Soi 7 - and rushed to the scene. They found rescue workers from both foundations were there and that Pirun workers were transporting the injured to hospital, so they helped to accommodate the traffic, Chucheap said.

A Pirun worker then took issue with them and punched Dome, after which other Pirun workers started to surround them, so they left the scene to file the compliant, he said.

While Chucheap was talking to police at 1am, two pick-up trucks passed by the station and one shot at the Por Tek Teung vehicle four times, damaging the side door, but no one was injured. Chucheap urged police to punish the gunman, although he was not certain if they were the same group that assaulted he and his colleague.

A Pirun worker, who asked not to be named, told The Nation both foundations had no problem at the accident scene because they had already agreed to zones for collecting the injured.

They were not competing with Por Tek Teung to collect accident victim bodies, he said. The Pirun ambulances would transport the injured to hospital from areas along Phra Khanong Canal, Prawet Burirom Canal as well as Parwet, Bang Na, Udomsuk, Lat Krabang and Phra Khanong, the worker said. But the Por Tek Teung ambulance had showed up "and crossed into our zone".

Asked about the shooting in front of Phra Khanong police station, the Pirun worker said he did not know anything about it - but a Pirun vehicle was also shot at near On Nut Soi 25. He was not sure if his fellow workers had filed a complaint with police about that incident.

Phra Khanong superintendent Col Sitthiparp Baiprasert said police would look into the alleged assault and the shooting of the Por Tek Teung vehicle to try to bring the culprits to justice. "There's a conflict of interest so incidents like this happen often and related officials must take care of these issues," he said.

The Nation

http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2007/12/26/national/national_30060334.php

[mdechgan]

Does a group of people just get together and decide that they want to be volunteer rescuers then put stickers on their trucks, a flashing light on the roof, and get some uniforms?
Do they have to register with the police or another government agency before they can operate?

I have a few friends that WERE bodysnatchers. Usually they are a group of friends that hang around gas stations at night. They put on their uniforms and drink, talk all night. Yes they drink, beer, whiskey you name it. They wait with their tricked out pickup trucks, tricked out meaning they have turbos, dvd monitors, 1,000 watt sound sytems with 15" subwoofers, and lowered suspension, etc. They can do this because they are considered a service to a community, other people would have police writing out tickets to them. So they drink, talk and listen to the radio until they hear a "4-0" which is the code for a motor accident. Then voom they take off. Seriously some are drunk and all drive like crazy weaving in and out of traffic. I mean really crazy, and dangerous like weaving at 120-140 km/h. Sometimes I wonder if they really want to help at the accident scene or to just get their faster than the other foundations.

They only recieve a few hundred baht per person they send to the hospital which the hospital pays which then charges the patient. They receive a bit more for bodies collected and motocycles.

In one way its nice to have a these people help out at the accident because the police and emergency services in Thailand are so inadequate. But sometimes these people just put on their uniforms so that they can have some respectabilty and power that come with the uniforms. Most just put on their uniforms at night so that they can have a few drinks and some excitement in their usually morbid lives and low wage day jobs. Their is no reason to have children put on these uniforms because kids can't really help at an accident scene. Sometimes I think they have gone too far, instead of helping people they compete with each other for merits.

[Yappofloyd]

Another interesting article on the farce that is a poor excuse for emergency services in Bangkok. There was also a similar article in The Big Chilli a few months ago if you missed it.

RIDING TO THE RESCUE
Volunteer rescue workers sometimes end up shooting each other while fighting over who gets to rescue an accident victim - and yes, it's about the money by Soonruth Bunyamanee and Wassayos Ngamkham Bkk Post 09/11/08

A little after midnight on Sept 24, Wasit Rithidech, 29, a radio controller at the Siam Ruamjai Foundation, a rescue organisation based in Hua Mak, was contacted by police in Lat Phrao. They were asking for the foundation's rescue team to attend to three people injured in a brawl among young gangsters in front of Tesco Lotus on Pradit Manootham road.


He called the team of rescue workers covering the area, but the volunteers said they wouldn't go. They told him they had just had a quarrel with a rescue team from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation as they were rushing to an accident on Seri Thai road, and they did not want to confront the rival team again. So Mr Wasit, who was just finishing his shift, decided to do the job himself. He and two colleagues went to the site of the brawl and transported the injured to Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital on Rarm Intra road.

"When my vehicle arrived in front of casualty I saw their [the Ruamkatanyu Foundation] vehicle parked there," Mr Wasit recalled. Two Ruamkatanyu volunteers, a man and a woman, were with the vehicle. After dropping the patients off, Mr Wasit spent about 20 minutes filling out forms. When he returned to his vehicle, he heard gunfire and realised he had been shot. His two colleagues were also shot.

Police later issued an arrest warrant for a Ruamkatanyu Foundation rescue worker. The suspect is still at large. Witnesses told police the two factions were quarreling in front of the hospital, while Mr Wasit was in casualty, before the gunshots. "I wasn't involved in the confrontation. I don't know why he shot me," said Mr Wasit. "I think it was because I was wearing the [Siam Ruamjai Foundation] uniform. "My first time doing field rescue work and I was shot. "I don't blame the rescue organisations, they have good intentions. I blame individuals," he concluded.

Violent clashes between rescue agencies, particularly in the Greater Bangkok area, have long been a problem, but the situation had improved in recent years when the two largest foundations - Poh Teck Tung and Ruamkatanyu - reached an agreement on operating areas and times, often working on alternate days so their workers wouldn't fight over dead bodies and accident victims.

But an old player - the Siam Ruamjai Foundation - is back in town and has upset the delicate balance. Bangkok, it seems, is not big enough for three rescue agencies, so it's back to the bad old days. And yes, it does read like something from a Mario Puzo Godfather novel. In September last year, a Siam Ruamjai Foundation volunteer fired on a Ruamkatanyu rescue vehicle on Seri Thai road, wounding two people. The incident sparked a new wave of violence between the organisations.

After the shooting at Nopparat Rajathanee Hospital, on Sept 28 Ruamkatanyu's rescue vehicle was ambushed in the Bang Kapi area by assailants hurling rocks and fire-bombs. Two people were injured. The victims told police they were attacked by Siam Ruamjai volunteers. On the night of Oct 1, Siam Ruamjai and Poh Teck Tung volunteers clashed with knives and guns at a PTT petrol station on Ekkachai road in Bang Bon district. Four people - one from Siam Ruamjai and three from Poh Teck Tung - were injured.

RETURN OF SIAM RUAMJAI
The Siam Ruamjai Foundation was registered in 1992 by an ex-politician in the Bang Kapi district. Following several clashes with rescue agencies in Bangkok - which has always been dominated by the big boys, the Poh Teck Tung and Ruamkatanyu foundations - Siam Ruamjai ceased operating in Bangkok for about five years. Instead, the foundation turned its focus to the provinces, where it has been most active in Chiang Rai and Rayong. But almost two years ago, the foundation re-emerged in Bangkok.

To try to prevent clashes between rescue operators, the Metropolitan police and Bangkok's Emergency Medical Service (EMS) Erawan Centre set the working areas for Siam Ruamjai, and these include Lat Phrao, Bung Kum, Bang Chan, Hua Mak, Prawet, Onnuj, Soi Chokechai, Navamin road, Seri Thai road, Rarm Intra road and some parts of Thon Buri. The foundation is allowed to conduct rescue operations and provide transport, but not collect dead bodies. Only the Poh Teck Tung Foundation and Ruamkatanyu are allowed to claim the dead in Bangkok.

CASUALTIES BLEED HARD CASH
Beneath the altruistic gloss of volunteer emergency services is the relentless wrangling between rescue squads over casualties, because there is good money to be made from them. In a worst case scenario, the fracas over victims can end up in a tragic shootout, according to Somsak Palwat, manager at the Ruamkatanyu Foundation's Bang Phli area office. Although the Emergency Medical Service System Act came into effect in March this year to regulate the emergency services and raise their standards, there is no end in sight to the clashes between the rescue squads - usually the body-collecting teams - as long as money plays a part.

According to Mr Somsak, it is not only the direct financial rewards that are to blame for the problem, but also the indirect financial incentives. He said the Narenthorn Emergency Medical Services System Centre under the Public Health Ministry receives financial support from the National Health Security Office (NHSO) and allocates payments to other rescue organisations. This financial assistance, known as "case" payments, varies from around 300 baht to 1,000 baht per rescue operation.

However, the rescue workers don't receive a share of these payments, which go to the foundations to cover operating expenses. As a result, the volunteers find a way to earn some money of their own. If they take the injured to a private hospital, they are paid 500 to 1,000 baht per casualty, depending on the injury. An anonymous source said several hospitals use loopholes in the 1992 Protection for Motor Vehicle Accident Victims Act to reap benefits from patients with accident-related injuries who receive full compensation from insurance companies and the Victim Compensation Fund.

It's a financially sound policy for hospitals to pay a tidy sum to rescue workers who bring prospective patients to their establishments, as long as they can reap the rewards, the source added. "Our foundation is strongly opposed to such practices in every way. However, the problem is still rife because earning the extra money is a matter of individual ethical standards," Mr Somsak said. However, Mr Somsak stressed that only a very few volunteer rescue workers are tempted to commit such acts as suspension from work or even dismissal is a high price to pay if they are found out.

LONG ARM OF THE LAW
Anurak Amornpetchsathaporn, acting deputy secretary-general of the National Institute of Emergency Medical Service System (Niems), which the Emergency Medical Service System Act created from the Narenthorn EMS Centre, said that following the act, the agency currently receives an annual budget of 300 to 500 million baht, down from an annual flat payment of 700 million baht earlier funded by the NHSO. Due to this reduced budget, the institute must more strictly screen the emergency and rescue service organisations across the country to ensure no drop in the standards, Dr Anurak said.

Under the new act, rescue teams that do not perform well and cause trouble can be punished. For example, an individual or organisation that interferes with the communications of another rescue organisation can be fined 500 baht, any group that operates unlicensed can be fined 50,000 baht and any rescue team that attempts to hinder another team from assisting victims can be fined 100,000 baht.

The institute will also classify the qualifications of each rescue organisation, which will then be permitted to assist in different levels of rescue work. Winai Praditkanok, head of the Poh Teck Tung Foundation's volunteer rescue, said the act is a blessing to the volunteer rescue organisations. Under the act, all volunteers are required to receive proper training before going on the job, and most importantly, the act will help weed out "black sheep" and help improve the foundations' tarnished image, Mr Winai added.