Sharp rise in medical emergency calls

Abu Dhabi: Fifty operations rooms of the National Ambulance spread across the five emirates of Sharjah, Ras Al Khaimah, Ajman, Umm Al Quwain and Fujairah received over 290,000 calls, responded to over 200,000 incidents and treated more than 179,000 patients from its inception in 2014 to the end of 2018.

Releasing the five-year data on ambulatory services in Abu Dhabi recently, Ahmad Saleh Al Hajeri, CEO of National Ambulance, said, “The average monthly rate of calls increased from 2,483 in 2014 to 6,194 calls in 2018 and roughly 80 per cent calls were related to medical emergencies while 20 per cent were from road traffic accidents.”

However, the medical emergency response time, which was 18 minutes in 2014 came down to eight minutes by the end of last year. “We aim to bring it to four minutes in the upcoming years which is possible with the help of a well-qualified team and advance technology,” he said.

Al Hajeri said: “When we began operations in the Northern Emirates, we had a lot to prove. The figures we are publishing today highlight how far we have come in overcoming the challenges we faced in enhancing the quality of the service provided and winning the trust of the community as the provider of their emergency ambulance service. This success has been achieved with a lot of hard work and commitment from everyone involved.”

In 2018, National Ambulance facilitated more than 1,000 medical staff trainings, one of the highest standards of pre-hospital emergency medical care in the Middle East, he said.

National Ambulance has also collaborated with community partners and several government entities in the Northern Emirates to provide First Aid Training with more than 1,275 trained in First Aid to assist the community in emergency situations.

Future target

The National Ambulance Communication Centre (ACC) will be connected directly to the Ministry of Interior’s Intelligent Command Control Centre (ICC) this year to ensure a more integrated and timely response from partners across the emergency sector to critical incidents.

The ACC will be updated with the latest technology and an upgrade to the Computer Aided Dispatch (CAD) system will enhance functionality, stability and response times by electronically integrating with other emergency service providers, including Police and Civil Defence.

An investment will also be made in smart connections to vehicles and other command centres to ensure efficient work across services and that ambulance resources are mobilised in the right place at the right time to assist patients, Al Hajeri said.

National Ambulance serves the community of the Northern Emirates through a team of 430 ambulance crews and 39 medical dispatchers; alongside administrative, technical and support staff through 50 ambulance points distributed across the Northern Emirates.

Residents can call on 998 for the ambulatory services.