UAE: What to do during a medical emergency; SOS channels, cost, process

During medical emergencies in the UAE, which could either be due to a natural cause or an unfortunate incident like accidents, authorities across the country have set up an efficient process to ensure that patients receive urgent care.

The Emirates Health Services has standardised healthcare facilities across the UAE. Apart from the EHS, each emirate has its own healthcare authority. These are: Dubai Health Authority in Dubai, Department of Health - Abu Dhabi in the capital city and Sharjah Health Authority in Sharjah.

Government of Ajman and Fujairah oversee many of the services provided in these two cities. The Ministry of Health and Prevention is also in charge of overlooking healthcare across the country.

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From calling an ambulance to treatment, here's a guide to availing medical emergency services across the UAE.

Emergency channels

In the case that a medical emergency takes place and the individual is far from a hospital or does not have transport to reach the medical facility, it is crucial that the person, their guardian or anybody else present nearby calls an ambulance.

To call an ambulance, individuals must call on 998. An air ambulance will be provided in case the situation demands so. This often takes place cases of accidents in the desert, at sea or any isolated area far from the city.

In Dubai, residents or visitors can also use the DCAS SOS app to request emergency ambulance services from Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services. The app contains a SOS feature, which finds the exact location of the patient.

Similarly in Abu Dhabi, people can use the SOS - AD999 application to request for an ambulance.

In Abu Dhabi, inpatients can also contact emergency services on the Istijaba call centre using the toll free number 8001717. Patients can request for urgent medical checkup or diagnosis, a medical bed for critical conditions, rare or critical care medicine specialists, rare blood type requirement and other urgent support.

The platform operates as a direct communication channel with the Medical Operations Command Centre of Department of Health - Abu Dhabi to respond to patients' emergency requests promptly.

Process

After calling for an ambulance, the hospital will accept the patient for initial treatment and then transfer patients to a more specialised facility depending on the situation. In the UAE, private hospitals as well as government ones offer medical services.

During cases of emergency, treatment to stabilise the case is free in government hospitals. Any treatment additional to that must be paid for by cash, credit card or insurance.

Emirates Health Services

In hospitals operated by the Emirates Health Services, patients or the people with them have to first register at the ER reception. The hospital will then classify the case and accordingly prioritise.

The patient will then be examined by an emergency doctor after which they will be referred to another doctor.

Documents required

Patients or those with them need to provide the following documents while registering:

In case the above documents are not available, a valid passport copy is required.

Service locations