UAE: How doctors can reach medical emergencies quicker using the Bin Wariqa service
On-call doctors can use the service to respond faster during traffic congestions or curfew
Dubai: If you are a medical professional who is on call and needs to respond quickly to a medical emergency, the UAE’s authorities have implemented a fast-response service, which empowers doctors to use their private vehicles to respond to extreme emergencies.
‘Bin Wariqa’ is a service provided to a specific category of on-call doctors and aims to facilitate doctors’ access to hospitals by avoiding traffic congestion. By using their private cars, trained and registered medical professionals can respond to medical emergencies as quickly as possible, while ensuring their safety and the safety of road users to avoid any delays due to traffic congestion. The service was rolled out by the Ministry of Interior in 2020.
How the service works
Doctors who qualify for the service are registered and provided Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Vehicle Training by the National Ambulance.
These doctors can then request for the service by using the Ministry of Interior’s smartphone application – MOI. Once they have completed the application, they can then use their private vehicles to reach a medical emergency.
By turning on the green strobe light, other vehicles will move aside to let the doctor pass, as it is treated as an emergency vehicle.
See a vehicle with a green strobe light? Give way!
This Ministry of Interior has advised roads users to immediately give way, when they see a green strobe light in a private vehicle. The light indicates that a doctor is on the way to treat an emergency at the hospital
Together, they lived through countless situations and events at a time when even the simplest of diseases could claim the lives of people.
Bin Wariqa was a veteran folk medicine practitioner who treated his fellow countrymen and saved many lives. In one of his famous stories, Bin Wraiqa was heading to the Eastern Coast, currently known as the Northern Emirates, and he passed by a family in the Al Hayer area, north of Al Ain City. He found them busy helping a woman who had been in labour for five days, and while she was fighting for her life, they asked Bin Wariqa to help her deliver the dead baby. After a few hours of suffering, he was able to remove the baby and save the woman’s life.
The Bin Wariqa service is named after him as a tribute to the UAE’s early heroes who contributed to protecting the community and its members.
Who can register for the service?
To obtain a licence using the ‘Bin Wraiqa’ service, the following requirements must be met:
• The doctor must be working in one of the medical specialisations listed in the service’s system, which have already been approved by the service’s Special Committee.
• The doctor must successfully complete a training course at one of the designated institutes accredited by the Ministry of Interior.
• The doctor must obtain permission to use the service.
• The doctor must hold a valid medical licence in the UAE.
The service is intended for doctors and paramedics in the UAE in the following specialties:
• Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon
• Consultant Cardiologist
• Consultant Neurosurgeon
• Consultant Obstetrician
• General Surgery Consultant
• Consultant Oncologist
• Consultant Pediatrician
• Consultant Interventional Radiologist
• Internal Medicine Consultant Specialist
• Consultant Pediatric Surgeon
• Intensive Care Consultant Specialist
• Consultant in Emergency Medicine
• Anesthesiologist
How to register for the service
The service is implemented across hospitals or accredited health facilities to cater to patients whose condition requires urgent and rapid medical response from doctors in the following cases:
• Medical emergencies
• Partial or general curfew
• Traffic congestion or traffic jam
• Doctors summoned from another emirate
The doctors who fall under the categories listed above will be registered. They are then given a course called Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Vehicle Operations Safety by the National Ambulance services.
Once registered, the doctors will receive the service as part of the catalogue in the Ministry of Interior’s smartphone application – MOI.
This icon only appears and is accessible by specific doctors who are entitled to the service.
How to use the service
If you are a doctor who has been registered for the service, you can respond to medical emergencies and reach them faster by following these steps:
1. Access the ‘services’ list on the MOI app, by clicking the icon on the bottom right corner of the screen.
2. Click on the ‘General Services’ icon on the right side of the screen, then click on the ‘Bin Wraiqa’ icon.
3. To add a new request, click on the (+) sign on the bottom left corner of the screen
4. You will be directed to a page which pinpoints your destination on the map. Click on ‘Next’.
5. Through this page, you can send the details of the car you will take to your destination. You will need to choose your current driving licence details from the drop down list on top of the screen, or click on ‘Add Vehicle’ to fill in your car details.
6. Once you complete these details, your request will successfully be added.
Although registered and approved doctors are excluded from certain road regulations, they need to comply with traffic safely rules and consider pedestrians crossing the road, as well as other emergency vehicles, which need to be given priority.
The service regulations also limit the doctor from exceeding the street speed around schools or hospitals.
The article was first published on March 4, 2021, and has been updated since.