Cut finger, heat exhaustion... medical aid is just a click away

A boy slams a door on his brother's finger. A woman spills hot cooking oil on herself. Your child is suffering from heat exhaustion after playing outside in the sun.

Who do you turn to in such situations, if you cannot reach a doctor in a hurry?

At the click of a mouse, most of these medical queries will be answered by experts, in both English and Arabic.

The website, www.eccdubai.ae, launched by Dr Hussain Al Rahma, head of emergency and critical care at the Rashid Hospital, is now up and running and ready to offer help in an instant. If you are a tourist and need help, the website directs you to the Rashid Hospital with a location map.

And it also tells you which doctors to contact and along with their mobile numbers.

Many people are interested to know if they can gain emergency treatment with a health card. The website confirms that in the case of genuine emergencies, the services are free.

If the case is not an emergency, then people must pay Dh50, if they have a card, or Dh200 without a card. Where should parents take a sick child? The website directs them to Al Wasl Hospital or Dubai Hospital, which treats about 400 emergency cases a day or around 125,000 a year.

A majority of these people are involved in road accidents or industrial accidents, said Dr Al Rahma, a Dubai Quality Award winner.

"Many of the people who come into this section were trauma cases. A cut finger. A door closing on a child's hand. Severe burns."

He clicks a button to show one of the most stomach churning cases the emergency section was involved in. It showed a hand caught in a meat grinder.

This summer, he is also educating foremen of constructions companies about heat exhaustion and how to deal with it.

Brochures have been printed advising people what the symptoms are and how to provide first aid for heat stroke victims.