'Bus hospitals' set to help road crash victims

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CRASH AID: The new bus hospitals will speed up treatment to crash victims. (ITP Images)

Three ‘bus hospitals’ with intensive care units will open in Dubai by early next year in a bid to reduce the time taken to give medical attention to victims of road accidents.

The new mobile facilities at the Dubai Centre for Ambulance Services will feature an operation theatre and seating for people with minor injuries as they are ferried to hospitals.

Currently, critical patients are airlifted to nearby hospitals by the Dubai Police Air Wing helicopters or transported by ambulance, Khaleej Times reported on Wednesday.

The introduction of the buses to the existing ambulance fleet comes at a time when Dubai's roads have witnessed some serious incidents such as the crash on the Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway in March that killed four people.

An official from the ambulance centre told the paper the buses will be used only during emergencies.

Currently, the centre has a fleet of more than 80 ambulances distributed in 51 points of Dubai police stations, hospitals, primary health centres, shopping centres, tourist sites and Dubai International Airport.

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READERS' COMMENTS

hospital buses
Posted by oliver, abu dhabi, United Arab Emirates on Thursday 7 August 2008 at 11:07 UAE time

It doesn't make real sense to have such an emergency system in a small country like UAE. how are you going to reach a major crash site especially during peak hours or in the middle of the desert? A motorcycle can barely make its way through the heavy traffic. All you will achieve is an excellently equipped bus that reaches the crash site far too late to help the victims. what is wrong with the european system, to have an emergency doctor and nurse to fly to the accident site, stabilize the patient and fly him out to a suitable hospital? I would always favour this system because it is proven excellent!! until now this country doesn't have an emergency doctor system, where the team "visits" the patient (by helicopter or ambulance), stabilizes him and decides for further mangement in or outside the hospital. again money should not be an issue to implement such a system!

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