Dubai: Ambulance services can now be availed of by people with hearing and speaking disabilities as well as people with visual impairment through a tap on the mobile phone as the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services (DCAS) launches two separate apps for people with special needs.
Samee and Olem – the two apps for the deaf and dumb and blind respectively help these people make calls and ask for emergency services.
“We have launched an app — Samee — that helps people with speech and hearing difficulties to call an ambulance. It’s a text-based app, where they can fill in the details they want and choose the service they require. They can send an alert based on the type of case like trauma or a stroke, based on which they will receive the service,” said Oubai Abbasi, a programmer at DCAS.
The services were on display at the three-day Smart Government Exhibition and Conference that began on Monday at the Dubai World Trade Centre.
Shaikh Mansour Bin Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum inaugurated the event that aims to spread awareness about the importance of smart services as an alternative to traditional methods.
Giving more details about Samee, Abbasi said: “The app offers options to people where they can flag the case as minor or major along with details such as which part of the body is injured. The app then sends the message, along with the location of the person to the police, who then sends the info to the nearest ambulance available.”
Another app that was launched recently, Olem, offers emergency services to blind people.
“Through Olem blind people can activate the emergency calling service without having to open a mobile phone. Just by triple-clicking the power butter the voice over service in the app is activated and by following the voice any person can access ambulance or medical services they require,” he explained.
In another interesting step in smart communication, DCAS has tied up with NFC Medic, which offers NFC-enabled bracelets, chains as well as other accessories that can store a person’s health-related information.
“In an emergency situation if a person is wearing any NFC-enabled accessory, our paramedics can access all the information about the patient with a quick scan of the accessory, which will help us in giving right treatment to the patient. The NFC-enabled accessories can be used to store information such as blood group, chronic illnesses, medical history of the person, etc,” he said.
Among the latest steps to help offer faster emergency response, DCAS has also launched sports and muscle cars (high performance automobiles) as well as smart ambulances.
