HMC launches national campaign to limit non-emergency ambulance calls

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) launched Tuesday a new national awareness campaign asking members of the public to 'Save the Ambulance Service for Medical Emergencies'. The campaign aims to reduce the volume of non-emergency 999 calls to the Ambulance Service. The Assistant Executive Director of HMC's Ambulance Service Ali Darwish explained the rationale behind the campaign: "The role of the Ambulance Service is to deliver rapid emergency medical support to people experiencing a life-threatening injury or illness and provide subsequent transfer to an appropriate hospital emergency department." "Every day, our Ambulance Service teams provide life-saving medical care to people who have experienced a stroke, heart attack, or road traffic accident, for example. To enable our teams to respond as quickly and effectively as possible to these critical cases, we are asking members of the public with non-emergency medical conditions not to call 999 and request an ambulance, but rather to make their own way to a relevant health facility for medical treatment." Darwish stressed that people with genuine life-threatening medical conditions should not hesitate to call 999 for an ambulance and the campaign is not intended to reduce the number of calls from people with severe injuries or medical conditions. "As always, our Ambulance Service teams remain ready to rapidly respond to anyone in Qatar with a life-threatening medical condition. With 75 dispatch points located across the country and a highly-advanced ambulance fleet, our Ambulance Service has a proven record of responding rapidly. In fact, for the past 11 years, the average time for our Ambulance Service to respond to emergency calls has been faster than the target set by Qatar's first National Health Strategy in 2011." The Chief Communications Officer at HMC Ali Abdulla Al Khater explained the importance of working with the community to help HMC deliver the highest quality services. "The new 'Save the Ambulance Service for Medical Emergencies' campaign follows on from our very impactful, long-standing ambulance campaign, 'Help Us Help You', which has been run for the past ten years, educating the public on the steps to follow when calling 999 in the event of a critical medical emergency." "We know that our ability to provide the best possible services often relies on an efficient partnership with members of the community and it is our responsibility to communicate effectively with Qatar's population to ensure they are aware of how they can work together with our medical teams," explained Al Khater.