National Ambulance project taking shape

Manama : More than 40 paramedics have been shifted to the Interior Ministry from the Salmaniya Medical Complex (SMC) as part of a move to launch a unified ambulance service dubbed the ‘National Ambulance Centre’.

According to reports, most of the ambulance staff in SMC has been transferred to the ministry, leaving now only 15 to 20 paramedics at the biggest hospital in the country. 

Al Ayam daily, quoting Healthy Ministry sources, reported that the ambulances at the SMC would not be used for any purpose other than transporting kidney patients between the complex for dialysis. 

According to the report, there are now 26 ambulances standing stationary at SMC. 

The National Ambulance Centre, according to the Interior Ministry, introduces a unified and modernised approach to providing ambulance services in all governorates of the Kingdom. The project will be managed by the Interior Ministry, which would receive all emergency calls. The ministry also said that the move is aimed at taking pressure off the SMC and other hospitals in the Kingdom. The project is now getting life with the assistance of foreign medical professionals. 

“14 stations have been allocated in all the governorates of the Kingdom and will be controlled and coordinated by a fully-equipped main operations room at the ministry,” an Interior Ministry statement said. 

The ministry has reportedly received a number of ambulances, while medical equipment and staff’s uniforms are awaited.