‘All hospitals must co-operate with new ambulance scheme’

It will be mandatory for all hospitals in the Kingdom to co-operate with the National Ambulance System and receive all emergency cases, it emerged. The Supreme Council for Health (SCH) has announced that no hospital shall refuse patients brought by the ambulances. The hospitals are also required to provide information about the number of emergency beds and the designated staff members assigned with emergency responsibilities.

“The hospitals may not refuse any emergency cases. The patients must be provided with treatment as soon as possible. “Information regarding the number of emergency beds must be provided and it’s availability must be updated electronically,” an SCH official said. The National Ambulance Service was launched on June 15. The service was activated at 13 centres and will cover all governorates by the end of this year.

The initiative aims to improve the quality of ambulance service provided for citizens and residents.  The project, which is managed by the Interior Ministry, operates within the highest level of discipline in performance and competency to ensure fast response to medical emergencies by benefiting from the best international experiences in this field. The project includes linking the operation rooms with the latest communication and control systems and Geographical Security System to ensure swift response. 

The public can contact the main operations room to make requests to the National Ambulance. The National Ambulance System passed the review of an expert French delegation recently. A meeting was held between the delegation and the Bahraini health authorities and the Interior Ministry. The meeting discussed the steps and procedures of the project to ensure readiness for fast response in dealing with the cases and transferring patients within the highest safety standards.

During the visit, the French delegation inspected the ambulances used for the project and the National Ambulance Centre and its operational process.  The delegation hailed the directives and follow up of the Interior Minister of the phases of the project, hailing the level of readiness by the team in terms of competency and equipment.

Head of the delegation said that the members discussed various topics with the project’s team and hailed the efficiency of the centre. He revealed that the delegation’s technical assistance was valuable in evaluating medical emergency services.