But actually around half of those six million people that made the call didn't need the ambulance
Dude the ambulance is not a taxi
...to not put on their siren when they come
Hey guys and girls on Ask Japanese it's CathyCat your a fancy fashion reporter
from Tokyo and today we're gonna talk about the reason why the ambulance in
Japan right now is struggling and let me tell you it's not just because of the rona
Oh my gosh there's a car accident, oh no an old man fell off his bike, no let's call the
ambulance.... well in your country you might be dialing 9-1-1 for the ambulance in Japan is
the other way around it's actually 1-1-9 and that way you reach the ambulance or the fire trucks
Back in 2017 six million of such calls were made and I don't even want to know how many were made
this year but the number has been rising ever since and there's a big problem due to that
The emergency ratio... now like I said 2017 six million people made that big call but actually only one
in 22 people afterwards got taken to the hospital
The general reasons were number one sudden sickness or number two traffic accidents but
actually around half of those six million people that made the call didn't need the ambulance
Some of the reasons from the other three million that called the ambulance where
Case one:
"I got a splinter in my finger from some woodwork..."
Is that a fatal emergency?!?!
Case number two!
"I have no other way to go home."
Dude the ambulance is not a taxi!
Case number three
I found a cockroach in my house
Doudemo ii ya!!!
Who cares?!
Simply unnecessary ambulance calls like the ones I mentioned are a big problem right now in Japan
especially this year and on that note we are wondering why these people are calling the
ambulance so frequently and why do you think that is? It's because in Japan the ambulance calling the
ambulance over is completely for free and there's only a few countries who are doing it like Japan
and Italy.... I heard in countries like the usa you have to pay quite a lot of money if you want to
go on the ambulance... again in Japan it's free now the big problem is that the majority of those
calls that are kind of unnecessary seem to be according to the news done by the older generation
The sad reason for that being Japan has a super super super super aging society meaning
the majority of people right now is over a certain age compared to other countries not
enough young people to support that and that has actually left Japan a couple of crises
and one of them is that many of the old people they're lonely, they feel lost, they want to
talk with people, and unfortunately some of them referred to calling the ambulance.
HOLD ON!!!!!!
Surprising ambulance apologies: now things like
Gomennasai, Sumimasen, Moushiwakegozaimasen
we have heard those are a couple of the apologies we've mentioned them in a future video or in a
past video depending on when it gets uploaded .... Japanese people are very polite and in Japanese
culture is a good thing to create harmony to create group harmony to apologize to strangers
to other people and to not bother them... but here in Japan especially when it's around emergencies
I am very shocked and surprised about some of the apologies that people here have to make
Number one Japanese ambulances do not only have the siren they also have a
speaker to talk to people meaning when they go into a crossing they will actually say
"Sorry, sorry, we're going through sorry" or "Sorry we're turning right here"
"Sorry the ambulance is coming through. Thank you so much for cooperating."
We're turning right here and then once they are through that part they will say "thank you
thank you very very much". As practical as it sounds that the ambulance has
speakers to communicate with people at the same time I'm like "No just go
through no one should be on the street no one should be blocking the ambulance!"
"Make space for the ambulance it's the ambulance they're trying to save people's lives
Number two: The siren sound... sometimes when the ambulance gets a ring they will actually
be requested by the people calling them to not put on their siren when they come
One of the reasons for that being is that they do not want to annoy their neighbors they're very
aware of their surroundings they don't want them to wake up or similar things for example if it's
at night and another reason is they actually don't want to draw attention to the fact that
they need the ambulance so that someone in their house needs the ambulance so there is sometimes
the request "Please come quietly... we don't want people to know but we still need your help"
So how do you actually make use of the ambulance in Japan and how do you make use of it the right way?
Well apparently there is actually a manual that teaches people how to use it properly
The official fire and disaster management agency of Japan has published a book and there's also a
pdf of it in english of how to use the ambulance correctly here in Japan so in case you would
like to find out more about that one we're gonna put the link down in the description box of this
video so maybe find your way there in case you feel like updating yourself and then hopefully
in a situation of need you know what to do at the right time... one thing that really surprised me what
I heard is that the Japanese ambulance when they come to someone's house... you remember in Japanese
houses you're supposed to take your shoes off they take their shoes off too and that might be
in a situation when every second matters so if you are there and at the door be sure to tell
them they can come in with their shoes because generally the manner is to take their shoes off
so the ambulance during a day takes on and off their shoes several times during their shifts
Now what I'm curious about finding out is how is that in your country, is the same problem there
that too many people call the ambulance or is the problem that the ambulance is way too expensive or
that there are not enough ambulances to go around? What's the issue in your country let
us know in the comments down below on a little side note a little anecdote here a friend of
mine in Germany was an ambulance driver for a while and he was not being polite about things
he was going he was taking shortcuts he was like shouting at people he was cutting people
off because he was like "We are saving lives there is no arguing with that" well here people are so
generally and so kind and so polite very very different so this is one of the things that
surprised me a lot with the ambulance here in Japan I hope you guys enjoyed this video
don't forget leave a comment what what's the ambulance situation in your country and i'll
catch you soon for more stuff here from Tokyo see you guys bye
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