Ali Darwish, Assistant Executive Director of the Ambulance Service, HMC; and Brendon Morris, Executive Director of the Ambulance Service, while speaking to media yesterday.
A first-of-its kind mobile command vehicle fleet will be integrated into the country’s emergency services soon, in preparation to the World Cup 2022. The first vehicle of the fleet will be revealed ahead of the Qatar National Day celebrations, said Brendon Morris, Executive Director of the Ambulance Service at the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), yesterday.
“One vehicle of the fleet has arrived. This is a state-ofthe-art vehicle and is a key piece of equipment in our preparation towards 2022. We have identified various needs for the World Cup, and there is a requirement for us to have a command control unit close to event venues, so we can coordinate multiple emergency vehicles,” said Morris.
Mobile command vehicles are dispatched to a scene of an emergency to act as a hub for communications and relay time-sensitive information. They function as mobile/make-shift command centres. “Mobile command vehicles will be dispatched from the National Command Centre depending on the requirements during events. Expert communicators, call takers and dispatchers will get into the vehicle from the mobile command vehicles and reach the venue,” said Morris.
At present HMC’s Ambulance Service has a strong fleet of emergency vehicles which are dispatched according to the need. It includes 165 urban emergency ambulances, 60 rural ambulances, a rapid responsive unit with 35 critical care paramedics and supervisory vehicles, 78 ambulances to transfer patients from one healthcare facility to another and 12 4x4 vehicles to respond any emergency in the desert.
“The healthcare system in the country has expanded and number of facilities have increased. So we increase the fleet of ambulances and emergency vehicles to meet the demand,” said Ali Darwish, Assistant Executive Director of the Ambulance Service at HMC.
“We have a big fleet but it does not mean all vehicles will be on the roads. Around 95 ambulances will be operation on a normal day and other will be stand by. We can change this depending on the situation and needs. HMC’s Ambulance Service does not delay on any reasons,” he added.
HMC’s Ambulance Service received 239,782 calls in 2016, the number was 269053 in 2017 and from January to November this year, it received 277, 553 calls. Many of these are requesting emergency support for life-threatening incidents. In order to be able to provide the best possible support as quickly as possible, the Ambulance Service’s ‘Know the 5 to save a life’ national awareness campaign aims to educate the public about the key actions to take when calling an ambulance in an emergency situation.
