HMC aims to cut non-emergency calls to Ambulance Service

Ambulance

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) aims to reduce the volume of non-emergency 999 calls to the Ambulance Service.

An average of 20% calls received through the National Command Centre requesting for ambulance services are minor cases, said Assistant Executive Director of HMC’s Ambulance Service, Ali Darwish.

Explaining the rationale behind the recently launched national campaign ‘Where For Your Care?’ he stressed educating the public on the types of symptoms and conditions to call an ambulance as well as alternative treatment options for cases that are not life-threatening.

“We would like to send a message to the community who call Ambulance Service that our goal is to redirect all the calls which are non-emergency and non-life-threatening like minor trauma, and minor medical cases to other health facilities as the primary health centers distributed across Qatar,” he said in a statement to The Peninsula. “We have noticed that 20% of calls received through the National Command Centre asking for Ambulance Services are minor cases, do not require an eminent response of that vehicle disturbing all the road users, in light and sirens going through priority on response,” he said. 

According to Darwish, approximately 1,200 calls are received by the Ambulance Service daily and ambulances are dispatched through 57 focal points.  

The Ambulance Service provides life-saving care to patients with critical conditions such as heart attack, stroke, seizure, choking, chest pain, unconsciousness, difficulty breathing, and severe allergic reaction. 

Ali Darwish also reminded the public about HMC’s long-standing national awareness campaign to educate the public about the key actions to take when calling an ambulance in an emergency situation. The campaign focuses on five key points that are critical to ensuring an ambulance reaches the patient as quickly as possible to deliver live-saving treatment which are dial 999 immediately, know the location, answer all questions asked by the paramedics, follow their instructions and give way to ambulances.

Ali Darwish said that once sufficient awareness is created among the public, non-emergency calls to the Ambulance Service will be redirected to the nearest healthcare facility. 

In line with the ‘Where For Your Care?’ campaign, a media tour of the Ambulance Service unit in the Logistics Village was organised yesterday. 

The campaign in collaboration with the Ministry of Public Health (MoPH), HMC, Primary Health Care Corporation (PHCC), Sidra Medicine, and Qatar Red Crescent aims to raise awareness of emergency and urgent healthcare services in Qatar.  The campaign aims to highlight the wide range of emergency and urgent care services across HMC, PHCC, Sidra and Qatar Red Crescent and help patients make the best choice for their medical care needs.