Doha: Hamad Medical Corporation’s (HMC) Ambulance Service is raising its readiness to host FIFA World Cup 2022, building upon the experience gained during the FIFA Arab Cup 2021.
Since the recently concluded Arab Cup is considered as one of the major sport events similar to the FIFA World Cup, the lessons and experience will be taken forward to 2022, according to Ali Darwish, Assistant Executive Director of the Ambulance Service.
“In terms of number of spectators and stadiums during FIFA Arab Cup 2021, it was a good experience for the Ambulance Service ahead of the FIFA World Cup 2022,” he told The Peninsula.
“During the Arab Cup, Ambulance Service had a specific structural plan of control and command for each stadium,” he added.
According to Ali Darwish, the Ambulance Service had deployed a manager, senior operations supervisor, operations office, logistic supervisor, paramedics and a senior consultant for clinical care at each stadium. The stadium manager was reporting to the National Command Centre.
The commendable service provided by the Ambulance Service during the Arab Cup was recognised by FIFA, said Ali Darwish. He also said that the Arab Cup finals coincided with the Qatar National Day and it demonstrated that the Ambulance Service is able to handle more than one major event at the same time.
“It gave us good experience in how to manage multiple events on the same day; showed the strength and capability of Ambulance Service,” said Ali Darwish.
According to him, Ambulance Service in coordination with the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (SC) is working on how to serve during the FIFA World Cup 2022.
“We take forward the lessons learnt from the Arab Cup and enhance the fleet, manpower, technology and training for the staff to meet the needs of FIFA World Cup 2022,” he said.
The Ambulance Service emergency response section provides pre-hospital admission medical care and transportation for people in a serious, potentially life-threatening incident. The Ambulance Service Group also offers a range of other services including Patient Transport Service, Mobile Healthcare Service and Referral and Booking Management System.
Ali Darwish said that during the Arab Cup, the Ambulance Service has served the community without any interruption to daily operations. It included services related to COVID-19 patients and vaccination centres.
According to Ali Darwish, in 2020 the Ambulance Service has attended 379,212 cases including 268,953 calls related to emergency cases and attended 110,259 scheduled patient transport such as transferring patients between HMC hospitals, and from patients from home to hospitals for regular care. While, between January 2021 and November 2021, Ambulance Service has attended 352,785 cases including 245,610 emergency calls and 107,175 scheduled patient transfers.
The Ambulance Service response time is within 10 minutes inside Doha and within 15 minutes outside Doha.
