Dubai: A total of 496 emergency calls were made in Dubai on New Year’s Eve about incidents involving mild to serious injuries, the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services (DCAS) announced on Wednesday.
An emergency official said eight people suffered serious injuries, which required the patients to be transported to the hospital, while 147 people were injured as a result of crowding.
Khalifa Bin Drai, executive director of DCAS, said there had been a 30.6 per cent drop in the number of calls made to ambulances in Dubai compared to 715 calls last year.
“The calls this year were made between 5pm on December 31, 2017 and 5am on January 1, 2018. We responded to 341 cases involving minor injuries and 73 moderate injuries,” he said.
Around 60 per cent of the cases involved men and 39 per cent women, he added. “We had 74 unclassified cases because the emergency call was either cancelled or the patient did not require any treatment.”
The drop in the number of calls to emergency personnel shows the good planning and presence of ambulances around the Burj Khalifa area and other areas where the festivities were being held, such as around Burj Al Arab and other major hotels in the city, he explained.
This year, DCAS covered 45 different New Year’s Eve celebrations in Dubai and activated 100 ambulatory points in vital areas around the city, such as on external and internal roads. There were also 190 different ambulance cars involved in securing the festivities and at least 838 paramedics and ambulance drivers working on the same night.
“We had stationed 23 additional ambulances around Burj Khalifa and eight ambulances at The Dubai Mall. Three buses offering mobile hospital services and five emergency response vehicles were also provided,” he said.
The DCAS had also deployed bicycle and bike responders around heavily crowded areas and female responders to cater to emergency cases involving pregnant women and injured children.
“There was a smooth flow to the celebrations this year thanks to the security plans in place and all procedures that were implemented in cooperation with various government departments including the Event’s Security Committee, who worked to ensure the safety and security of the people during the celebrations,” he added.
Bin Drai said DCAS received a number of messages from residents and visitors commending them for the good work they had done and for securing the areas they were present in.
