Mock drill on food poisoning cases in Dubai

Dubai: To ensure that municipal health officials are equipped to handle food poisoning cases, the civic body on Wednesday organised a mock drill to reinforce their best practices.

A number of hotels were involved in the mock drill, and a team comprising various departments at Dubai Municipality performed in the operation for food poisoning cases at the Municipality Clinic located in Deira.

Eng Khalid Sharif, Director of the Food Control Department, explained that the drill was part of the civic body’s measures to maintain the health and safety of society and that the public safety requirements are in line with global standards in all emergency cases.

“The mechanism works in coordination with the relevant departments. On receiving the message from the public, the Customer Relations Department passes it to the Food Control and Public Health and Safety Departments to prepare an action plan,” said Khalid.

He pointed out that the case will then be handled by the Corporate Marketing and Relations Department, who are required to make an initial assumption for further study and investigation, and will then take appropriate action.

The dedicated team will also coordinate with similar teams and organisations in the UAE to share experiences and execute the best practices.

“The municipality has been prepared with fundamental steps including, but not limited to, the formation of a permanent team called the Emergency and Crisis Management Team, which is a corporate emergency system based on a unified policy and analysis of entire risks related to activities and services of the municipality,” said Eng. Redha Salman, Director of the Public Health and Safety Department.

He added that the Emergency and Crisis Management Team is also responsible for developing a detailed emergency plan specifying the duties and preparations of different departments.