Ambulance response time in N. Emirates cut by half in five years
abu dhabi — The response time to reach people in emergency situations has dropped to eight and a half minutes over the past five years since the National Ambulance began operating in the Northern Emirates, according to new figures.
The latest statistics released by the National Ambulance on Wednesday showed that although the number of calls it receives has risen considerably, the average response time has fallen by 48 per cent, from 18 minutes and 12 seconds in February 2014 to eight minutes and 29 seconds in December 2018. The team receives an average of 200 calls a day, and in 2018, it received a total of 74,329 calls.
“Before we began operating in the Northern Emirates, people in emergency situations used to face problems of delay of emergency services and others were using personal cars to take patients to hospitals for treatment,” Ahmed Saleh Al Hajeri, CEO of the National Ambulance, said at a Press conference held on Wednesday to mark the company’s fifth year of operations in the Northern Emirates.
“Things have greatly improved now and we are saving many lives. We have also moved ambulances to places near the mountains, like in Ras Al Khaimah, so we can quickly reach out to the tourists who may encounter problems,” he said.
Recent data indicated that the number of calls has risen dramatically since the ambulance service’s inception in 2014, recording a 249-per-cent increase over the five-year period. The average monthly rate has increased from 2,483 in 2014 to 6,194 in 2018.
Hussein Al Harthi, chairman of the National Ambulance, said: “The statistical data showing the development and growth of the National Ambulance across a five-year span confirms our commitment to excellence and motivates us to continue to improve and modernise our services for the community of the Northern Emirates.”