Sharjah Police bolster emergency units
More than 160 rescue operations carried out so far this year
Robots will enter service soon while drones have been used since 2019.
Two rapid response vehicles — one to rescue people trapped in cars during accidents and another for marine rescue missions — have joined the fleet of emergency vehicles in Sharjah.
Lieutenant-Colonel Faisal Al Dokhi, director of Sharjah Police’s Rescue Department, told Gulf News in an exclusive interview that they are fitted with hydraulic equipment with cutters and can spray foam to deal with fires.
A quick response police unit will be based at Sahara Centre to respond to accidents in the area. Manned by two personnel, the unit is operating 24/7 in shifts.
Drones for water rescue
Robots will also enter service soon while drones have been used by the unit since 2019 to improve safety.
Al Dokhi said the department is also using a special drone to locate and rescue people in Sharjah waters, which can locate people faster than human rescuers. It will
be run from a special operations room. The drone is fitted with cameras that can enlarge images by 38 times. It’s also equipped with a thermal sensor to survey beaches and features safety tubes to rescue drowning people. The tubes can be deployed remotely.
The department has also acquired a device to map out a topographical profile of the seabed so as to reduce human resources such as divers during search operations, and to save time.
Sharjah Police’s land and maritime rescue teams carried out 166 rescue missions — 151 on land and 15 at sea — since the beginning of the year till May 31. Last year, 550 rescue missions were carried out.
Al Dokhi said the rescue team is continuously undergoing training in dealing with major accidents.
“We are even called out when somebody locks their keys inside the car, or when cars get stuck in the desert. Sharjah Police Rescue is a free service and we are here to help”.