Emergency Medical Services in the UAE

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Table of Contents

Introduction
The UAE Brief Overview
EMS Organizations
Costs and Insurance
Emiratization
Vehicles
Conclusion
Reference List

Introduction

The United Arab Emirates is a fast-evolving country with outstanding resources and opportunities for becoming one of the leading nations at the international level. The health of the nation is viewed as one of the main priorities as it ensures the improved well-being of all citizens and their ability to contribute to the emergency development of the state. Emergency medical services (EMS) are viewed as an essential component of the healthcare sector vital for responding to critical situations and providing care to patients in need.

The UAE Brief Overview

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a country situated in the Southeast of the Arabian Peninsula. The state emerged in December 1971 as the federation of the six emirates: Abu Dhabi, Sharjah, Dubai, Ajman, Umm Al-Quwain, and Fujairah (About the UAE, 2022). In 1972 the seventh emirate, Ras AL Khaimah, joined the union, and the UAE became the federation of the seven emirates (About the UAE, 2022). Today, it is one of the most potent nations of the Gulf region, influencing its development, policy, and economy. The UAE has the second-largest economy in the Middle East, with a GDP of around $427.9 billion (About the UAE, 2022). It means the state can invest in new projects and support their development.

Prehospital care in the country is given much attention, but emergency medicine is nowadays in the developing phase. Nowadays, the UAEs healthcare sector lacks uniform medical control or treatment protocols, systems management, training, education, and quality assurance policies (Sasser, Gibbs and Blackwell, 2009). This means that care providers might be limited in their attempts to assist patients. The UAE Ministry of Health (MOH) focuses on improving the infrastructure and the overall health delivery system to meet the growing populations needs (Sasser, Gibbs and Blackwell, 2009). Moreover, medical education is also supported as the country has only three medical schools preparing demanded specialists (Fares et al., 2014). In such a way, prehospital care is still developing under the influence of the governments efforts to improve the nations health.

EMS Organizations

Emergency medicine in the UAE is represented by two public organizations, the National Ambulance and the Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services (DCAS). However, emergency medicine was not viewed as a distinct specialty within the UAE, which resulted in the absence of formal training for residents, problematic certifications, and trauma systems (Fares et al., 2014). In 2012, a group of emergency physicians created the Emirates Society of Emergency Medicine (ESEM), focusing on developing high standards of this practice and connecting all emergency medicine providers across the UAE (Fares et al., 2014). It promoted the standardization of approaches and increased attention to paramedic training as a part of a new environment. Thus, the National Ambulance and DCAS operate within this network and play a critical role in delivering this sort of care to all patients within the UAE and meeting their needs.

DCAS emerged in Dubai in 1977 as a specialized government agency. It is focused on providing multiple ambulance and emergency services to all representatives of the Dubai community (History of DCAS, 2022). It performs a wide variety of functions, such as planning the delivery of ambulance services to citizens, private training, treating patients, and assisting them in recovery. In general, the agency outlines 11 primary tasks that should be performed, making DCAS a vital part of UAE emergency medicine (History of DCAS, 2022). However, because of the peculiarities of its functioning, DCAS mainly covers the area of Dubai, offering transport services for patients and facilities operating within and outside the Emirate (History of DCAS, 2022). It is characterized by the stable development and increased attention to preparing specialists and developing infrastructure, making DCAS an important part of the UAE healthcare system.

DCAS was initially part of the police and ensured the provision of necessary services to all citizens in need. However, the further evolution of the state, its fundamental institutions, and the healthcare sector outlined the need for creating an independent agency with a similar scope of tasks (History of DCAS, 2022). For this reason, DCAS became an independent government entity with the medical dispatch operated by the Police Department of Dubai. Specialists are represented by trained medical technicians, paramedics, and qualified staff (History of DCAS, 2022). For this reason, DCAS remains successful in assisting citizens in coping with difficult cases and situations.

The National Ambulance is the second largest organization responsible for providing emergency care in the UAE. The organization was established in 2010 to ensure all citizens have access to high-quality prehospital services and benefit from improved well-being (About us, 2021). The National Ambulance woks both in the government and private sectors and functions regarding the international standards using innovative technology and implementing the recent advances of evidence-based practices into real life (About us, 2021). The agency is supported by an advanced fleet of vehicles, which allows it to respond to all emergency calls and work in close coordination with other healthcare agencies (About us, 2021). Correctly realizing the importance of this organization, the government devotes much attention to financing and innovating this service to ensure its stable work and growth.

Altogether, both these organizations perform the important function of providing clients with emergency care. They are available to citizens of the UAE who are in need or who experience severe health problems (About us, 2021). DCAS and the National Ambulance can be contacted by calling 999 or 998 in case of an emergency (About us, 2021). At the same time, people can also ask for a hospital-to-hospital transfer, transfer to home, make an appointment or ask for a consultation or help (About us, 2021). The given two establishments also evolve regarding the network established by ESEM and the incentives for improving the healthcare sector and care delivery.

Costs and Insurance

The UAE also has a specific approach to insurance and treatment costs. Following the existing regulations, health care is offered free of charge to all UAE nationals, including emergency cases (Sasser, Gibbs and Blackwell, 2009). It means that all public hospitals in the country treat all cases without any additional payment, except for some emergencies (Fares et al., 2014). As for the private hospitals, they require upfront payment to work with clients (Fares et al., 2014). However, expatriates cannot benefit from the free services as the government does not subsidize this aspect, and they are expected to pay for treatment (Sasser, Gibbs and Blackwell, 2009). At the same time, there are incentives and proposals to initiate an insurance program for both nationals and expatriates to guarantee they can acquire all needed services (Sasser, Gibbs and Blackwell, 2009). In such a way, the existing system is specific and continues to evolve.

Emiratization

The UAE also conducts the Emiratization policy focusing on increasing the role of nationals in various spheres. For healthcare, it means that the government encourages the UAE citizens to work in this field and contribute to the sectors development. It is one of the long-standing priorities as it will guarantee a sufficient supply of specialists coming from the state and needed to meet the growing demand (SEHA, 2022). The major barriers include the lengthy academic years of study, the nature of work after graduation, and the high responsibility (SEHA, 2022). However, as part of Emiratization policy, the government creates new infrastructure objects, learning facilities and focuses on making the position of health workers more attractive for individuals (SEHA, 2022). It results in a stable growth in the number of UAE nationals working in the sphere.

The Emiratis position in the healthcare and in the emergency sector is specific. Due to the focus on creating the developed infrastructure and engaging nationals in the work of these facilities, all Emiratis work at the level of paramedics, advanced paramedics, and other trained and skilled specialists (Fares et al., 2014). It can be viewed as the result of the governmental policy aimed at preparing medics who can contribute to the development of the sector and guarantee its stable growth (Fares et al., 2014). Additionally, they are motivated to take part in the training or programs focused on improving skills and preparedness levels among staff (SEHA, 2022). In such a way, Emiratis play an important role in the functioning of the UAE healthcare sector and emergency sphere.

People from other nationalities are also represented in the UAE emergency facilities. However, they play other roles and have different responsibilities. In accordance with the recent statistics, expatriates such as Indians, the Philippines, Egyptians, and Jordanians mainly work as emergency medical technicians and also contribute to the development of the sector (Sasser, Gibbs and Blackwell, 2009). Most of them were qualified outside the UAE, in their own countries as a nurse or EMT specialists (Fares et al., 2014). For this reason, they do not occupy positions of advanced paramedics and work in teams headed by UAE nationals (SEHA, 2022). This system provides much space for citizens to engage in the work of the sphere and make a career.

Vehicles

Finally, the emergency sphere has a sufficient supply of vehicles needed to perform its central functions. About 80% of the ambulances are fully equipped and characterized as ALS/Type 3 vehicles (Fares et al., 2014). The agencies also use fast responder units, motorcycles, intensive care units, helicopters, and bus-based mobile hospitals for serious accidents involving numerous victims (Fares et al., 2014). Ambulance vehicles are driven by specially trained ambulance drivers at DCAS, while the National Ambulance also has the demanded supply of specialists (Fares et al., 2014). The government ensures the existing facilities have the needed number of cars to transport patients.

Conclusion

Altogether, the emergency service in the UAE is in the development stage. It benefits from the governmental attempts to create a potent healthcare sector and improve the nations health. For this reason, the are numerous attempts to involve more nationals in the work of the emergency teams. The free provision of services to nationals and the plans to create insurance programs for expatriates also influence the work of the sector and its future. The establishment of new standards of practice, new methods, and procedures creates the basis for future improvement.

Reference List

About the UAE (2022) Web.

About us (2021) Web.

Fares, S. et al. (2014) Emergency medicine in the United Arab Emirates, International Journal of Emergency Medicine, 7(4), pp. 1-8.

History of DCAS (2022) Web.

Sasser, S., Gibbs, M. and Blackwell, T. (2009) Prehospital emergency care in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates, Prehospital Emergency Care, 8(1), pp. 51-57.

SEHA (2022) Emiratization. Web.

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