Road users must pay attention to emergency vehicles

ABU DHABI // Drivers in the Northern Emirates are causing crashes and risking lives by refusing to give way to ambulances rushing to respond to emergency call-outs.

Nine emergency vehicles have been involved in accidents since National Ambulance launched its service in February, because motorists failed to pay proper attention or yield right of way.

“How can they not be paying attention to something that is 1.5 tonnes, screaming like a banshee and with blue and red lights flashing all over it?” said Graham Stewart, chief operations officer at National Ambulance. “I mean, it is a mobile Christmas tree.

“We have had a number of accidents. People seem to be oblivious to blue lights and they drive into us. I had one of my ambulances in Ras Al Khaimah that had a car driven right into the side of it, like a T-bone. It was crazy.”

Drivers should always give way to an emergency vehicle, he said.

Not giving way could cause a serious accident or lead to an ambulance being out of action, Mr Stewart said.

“Every vehicle that we have off the road, that is less capability for us to save a life.”

Road safety in general is a message Mr Stewart wishes motorists would pay attention to.

Motorists and passengers not wearing seat belts is a particular gripe.

He said the ambulance crews had been exposed to some distressing sights because drivers and passengers were not wearing their belts.

“The injuries that my staff see – in particular to children for not wearing their seat belts – is unfair on them. Parents could be saving [so many lives] by having their kids strapped in.”

National Ambulance operates around the clock, 365 days a year. Since the Northern Emirates service launched on February 24, the service has helped 13,879 patients.

“That is a significant magnitude,” Mr Stewart said.

He said National Ambulance aimed to improve the level of service and care to citizens and residents in the Northern Emirates.

“I am immensely proud of the fact that we are saving lives every day. People do not wake up in the morning and say, ‘Oh, I am going to have a stroke or a heart attack or be in a car accident today’.

“But when misfortune comes we are the people that will be taking them. We are making a huge difference. I am immensely proud of what this team does every single day.”