Providing emergency service

Entrepreneur's Story

By: Agustinus Gius Gala

Globe Asia-25 Mei 2009. Deep disappointment over the poor standard of medical emergency services in Jakarta prompted Savitri Wirahadikusumah to set up MedicOne, a US-style 911 medical emergency service using a membership system. The germ of the idea to establish MedicOne was born in 2001 when Savitri Wirahadikusumah was mourning the death of her father, Lt. Gen. Agus Wirahadikusumah, then the commander of the Army Strategic Reserves Command (Kostrad). “In the early morning of August 30, 2001, my father who had no record of heart illness, suddenly collapsed around 5.45 am.

People in our house panicked and phoned Pertamina Hospital, the closest to our house,” she recalls. “The ambulance came late and no one in the house knew how to give first aid. Father died on the way to the hospital,” recalls Savitri, now 33. That bitter experience gave her the inspiration to set up a company to provide a health emergency service. After completing her study in hospital management and international health at the George Washington University, she began to develop the idea, using the USA's 911 service as a benchmark.

During her research and surveys, she met Ronny Adhipurna, a former director of the Medica Loka health center and son of its founder, Adhipurna. Like Savitri, Ronny had bad experiences with Indonesia's poor emergency services: his younger brother died on the way to hospital after the ambulance came 47 minutes after the call was made. Together they established MedicOne in April 2008 with Ronny as director and Savitri as operations manager. The service now operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week and 365 days a year from its own building in the plush Prapanca Raya area of South Jakarta. “Sometimes we don't realize the importance of emergency medical assistance in saving lives during the first 60 minutes; the 'golden hour'.

If we are responsive enough, the chance of saving the victim can increase by 30%,” explains Ronny.

Investing to save lives

An indication of the two partner's commitment to the venture is their hiring of the former director of the Connecticut, USA, 911 service, James Crouch, as an advisor. They decline to disclose the size of their investment. “It's too early to answer that question as the amount keeps increasing. We are enhancing our facilities and equipment and getting audited by international accrediting bodies,” Ronny says. It is certainly not a small amount of money and they clearly have the courage to risk it in a business that is relatively new in Indonesia. “This is not a regular business.

It is an immediate solution to the chaotic condition in the capital city where anyone can have an accident at any time, any place. We all work together to save lives,” explains Savitri. She says MedicOne is based on idealism, with profit not a top priority. However, to avoid financial losses, MedicOne applies a membership system. “We are forced to limit the service to members. It doesn't mean that non-members can't get the service, but the priority is for members. Our market target is the middle to upper class because our facility and crews are limited,” Savitri explains. Savitri acknowledges it is not easy to sell the MedicOne service in Jakarta, where families typically do not place a high importance on planning to deal with emergency situations. “That's why, when we launched last year, we distributed information through leaflets, brochures, internet, door-to-door visits as well as conducting training sessions in offices and schools,” she explains.

Fortunately Ronny already had a network of potential clients to introduce to MedicOne, garnered during his work at Medika Loka.Savitri claims that demand for the MedicOne service is now quite strong in Jakarta, with over 700 family and individual members and dozens of corporate members. “Our target is to have 5,000 members by 2012,” she says with smile.

Multiple support responses.

When a member calls for emergency response, MedicOne not only dispatches an ambulance to the location but also a crew on a motorcycle to get there earlier to provide first medical assistance. While the crew is on the way, a MedicOne official will guide the caller on the telephone to give first aid. The crew in the ambulance will take over once it arrives at the location.

MedicOne currently deploys two ambulances (one basic and one advanced) equipped with modern facilities such as heart monitor, respiratory equipment, oxygen and other medical support equipments and has 11 motorcycles stationed at its four service points in Kebon Jeruk, Bintaro, Prapanca and Tangerang. The service now employs 21 paramedics certified by AREMT and two doctors, specializing in emergency medical service.One of the doctors is Ugi Sugiri, head of the Fatmawati Hospital emergency unit in South Jakarta. MedicOne is also linked with 324 hospitals in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. Savitri and Ronny are now planning to expand the MedicOne operation to cover five major Indonesian cities by 2012. “In fact, for Surabaya and Denpasar, they'll be set up this year,” Savitri says optimistically.