ABU DHABI // Northern Emirates residents now have a dedicated number to phone in the event of an emergency but they have been warned not to misuse the service.
Previously, those needing an emergency response would phone 999 and be connected with the National Ambulance service’s control room.
Now residents can use the dedicated 998 number and be patched through to a call handler in a move that ambulance chiefs say will help cut response times.
“Testing of the 998 number has proven that it will improve our efficiency in responding to emergency situations and, as a result, enhance our delivery of first-class pre-hospital services to the community in the Northern Emirates,” said Ahmed Saleh Al Hajeri, the deputy chief executive of the National Ambulance.
Mr Al Hajeri warned residents that false or hoax calls to 998 could have a significant effect on service response times and potentially endanger lives. He urged people only to use the number in the event of a real emergency.
“This is a valuable and precious resource provided by the government for all citizens and residents,” he said. “Therefore, it is important that it is used for its intended purpose only. False calls can tie up operators and prevent our team arriving quickly to render assistance.
“All calls are recorded including the originating number. Misuse or abuse of the 998 number will be reported and action instigated by the Ministry of the Interior.”
The control room, based in Abu Dhabi’s Etihad Towers, will only handle 998 calls from Ras Al Khaimah, Umm Al Quwain, Ajman, Sharjah and Fujairah. If residents in Abu Dhabi or Dubai phone the 998 number they will automatically be diverted to the 999 police number.
The role of the call handlers is to glean vital information so that dispatchers can send an ambulance as quickly as possible.
Calls are classed by types of emergency – a red case is more critical.
Less critical calls are classed as yellow and ambulances are dispatched according to the severity of the case.
Sheikh Saif bin Zayed, the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior, announced the National Ambulance project in February last year. Since then, services in the Northern Emirates have improved substantially.
Within its first 12 months, the service dispatched its fleet of 24 Mercedes ambulances more than 30,600 times with its 180 paramedics treating more than 33,500 patients across the Northern Emirates.
jbell@thenational.ae