While you are fast asleep...

Abu Dhabi: As the rest of the city slumbers and the streets of the capital quiet down after the day's activities, a number of people in a variety of professions begin their daily tasks.

In fact, a large number of services and professionals continue to be available to serve the most urgent needs of residents.

As Gulf News found out, street cleaners, technicians, store assistants, taxi drivers and medical personnel are all hard at work while most residents get their night's rest.

One of the most important activities that takes place in the dead of night is the cleaning of the capital's streets, which is overseen by the Centre of Waste Management (CWM).

A CWM spokesperson said hundreds of trucks and more than 1,000 employees work throughout the city to clean up its localities.

Medical needs

"They pick up litter from the streets, empty the bins and clean the bus stops and underpasses. They also wash the major street signs that aid residents, and the public restrooms around the city," he said.

The CWM representative explained that the roads are cleaned by specialised vehicles which can spurt out water at high pressure if needed.

"You cannot carry out these activities during the day as it interferes with people's lives and traffic is too restrictive anyway. So the contractors we oversee work at night," he added.

But it is not just the cleaning of the roads that takes place. A spokesperson from Abu Dhabi Municipality said that urgent roadworks and road maintenance continue throughout the night in the emirate.

Residents with urgent medical needs can avail of emergency services at 23 different hospitals, including one hospital for specialised surgeries, confirmed a spokesperson from the Health Authority Abu Dhabi (HAAD).

Shaikh Khalifa Medical City is one of the hospitals which is open. Dr Murray Van Dyke, chairperson of the emergency department, said 20 nurses and six doctors are on call to deal with patients.

During the ‘graveyard' shift (as it is popularly known), Dr Van Dyke said "an average of 60 patients visit the hospital every night with complaints about chest or abdominal pain, injuries and fever".

Roughly about 12 of them are admitted. "The hours between midnight and 3am are the busiest," he added.

For patients who are not admitted after seeing a doctor in the late hours, the HAAD spokesperson confirmed 20 pharmacies keep their doors open so residents can pick up urgently needed medication.

A pharmacist at the New Medical Centre's 24-hour pharmacy said the most common items people came to buy were baby food, or prescription drugs for people who were not admitted to hospital after visiting the emergency ward.

Residents' transport needs are catered to by Abu Dhabi's taxi regulatory authority (TransAD), which operates a 24-hour call centre.

A spokesperson from TransAD also said that a certain percentage of taxis are on the roads between midnight and 6am so that residents can get a taxi whenever necessary.

One can even indulge in a bit of night shopping.

For necessities

Bejoy Thomas Pulickel, marketing and new initiatives manager of the Abu Dhabi Cooperative Society, said that eight of the store's branches are open at night.

"While most of the checkout counters may not be manned, most departments in the store are, and we normally see a number of people come in till about 1am," Pulickel said.

He explained, however, that there are generally not too many customers visiting the store.

"On weekends, more people come in than on weekdays. But otherwise, we don't see too much activity. People mainly come in to get essential groceries like baby food or dairy products, or those who work late come to pick up a few necessities. Still we know that residents may need to pick up urgent groceries and we stay open 24/7 to provide for them," he said.