UAE | Health
For them, duty comes before iftar break
As motorists gear up to get home for iftar, ambulances are on edge to respond to emergency calls, even if they have to miss breaking the fast on time.
- By Alia Al Theeb, Staff Reporter
- Published: 22:54 September 22, 2007
- Image Credit: Supplied Picture
- The control room which receives calls for ambulances witnesses a rise in accidents before iftar.
Dubai: As motorists gear up to get home for iftar, ambulances are on edge to respond to emergency calls, even if they have to miss breaking the fast on time.
Gulf News spent a day at around iftar time at the emergency control room for ambulances.
There are about 50 points in Dubai where ambulances are stationed to respond to accidents in the shortest possible time.
Calls are received through a device connected to Dubai Police's Command and Control Room, which diverts emergency calls to the ambulance centre through the device.
First Corporal Hasan Mohammad, a duty officer at the room, told Gulf News emergency calls increase at the time of iftar as motorists rush to get home.
He said there were 20 cases that required ambulances before 5pm last Tuesday. The iftar period was unusually quiet and there were only some minor cases.
"There are days when paramedics and drivers [of] ambulances do not even get to break their fast on time because they have to attend to emergencies. They are sometimes instructed to leave eating and rush to the spot or carry some food with them to break their fast on the way," First Corporal Mohammad said.
Emergency call
He said iftar meals for ambulance paramedics and drivers are available at the points where they are stationed, but still they do not get to break the fast on time.
At 5.52pm, an ambulance received a report to attend a minor injury case in an accident in Al Barsha. The ambulance was also instructed to speed up to attend the case.
At 6.12pm, there was another report of a minor injury. An ambulance was called at 6.14pm to Al Rifa'a police station and another got a call at 6.16pm to attend to the minor injury of a person who tried to commit suicide.
At iftar time, which was at 6.25pm, the situation calmed down and reports started coming in again around 6.52pm, starting with a minor fire but without injuries.
There were four minor cases which ambulances attended to from 5pm to 7pm, while the number of reports increased to 15 minor cases from 7pm to 9pm.
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