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Video: How Dubai Police go all out to save heart patients

Dubai - If you are a heart patient, Dubai Police assure you of a speedy ambulance service.

It is a well-known fact that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the world. According to World Health Organisation, an estimated 17.9 million people died from cardiovascular diseases in 2016, representing 31 per cent of all global deaths. The UAE's record with cardiovascular disease mirrors global trends and it continues to be on the rise, according to 2019 wellness survey. 
If you are a heart patient, Dubai Police assure you of a speedy ambulance service, even if you call the emergency number 999 and don't say anything at all. The programme for heart patients was established in 2007 as a collaboration with Dubai Health Authority, Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services and private sector hospitals. According to Dubai Police Operations Department, 2,581 heart patients were registered for the service by 2017, 2,874 patients were registered by 2018 and as of October 1 this year, 3,088 heart patients were registered with their Command Control Centre. 

Lieutenant Engineer Ahmed Al Najjar from Dubai Police Operations Department said, "In a cardiac arrest, the first sixty minutes are very crucial for treatment. This is why we have a special service to save their lives. All heart patients must register for this programme so that in case of any emergency, an ambulance can reach them in less than five minutes. During the registration, the patients need to provide their address, phone number and their emergency contact details. All this information makes it easy for us to quickly send an ambulance, fully equipped for heart diseases, to rescue them." 
The patient can register through Dubai Police app or the website by going to 'heart patient services'. Once he has filled in all the information, his location will pop up as a 'heart' in our GPS. Pointing to a giant screen at Dubai Police's Command Control Centre that showed thousands of pink hearts on the map of Dubai, Al Najjar said, "In case of an emergency, the patient can reach out to us by using the SOS call option on the phone, by using the SOS option on the Dubai Police app or by simply calling us at 999. They can just call us and hang up without saying anything or someone else can also call us on their behalf. If the patient is on the move, through his registered mobile number we can find out his exact location using GPS tracker," Al Najjar added. 
At any given time, Dubai Police have 70 ambulances and 127 patrol cars. "Dubai is one of the safest cities in the world and it's poised to become the first city that has no crime at all. We have installed 15,000 cameras to view all the areas in Dubai. Using these cameras, we can know if there's anything wrong. We also get information from the policemen on the ground, pedestrians and bystanders," he said. 
The service is not just limited to UAE residents. Tourists, who suffer from heart diseases, can also register by providing their international phone number. 
In certain cases when there's a fire and a heart patient needs to be rescued, Dubai Police go the extra mile. "Sometimes we have an incident of fire in a building. This system can show us where exactly the heart patient is located. Using a drone, we can send him a live message such as "please stay calm, we will rescue you soon." We do this because on seeing the fire, the patient may have an increase in heart beat and high blood pressure. Knowing that help is on its way, he will get some relief."
Besides heart patients, the programme also covers the elderly and people of determination. Currently thousands of people of determination are registered with the programme, Al Najjar added. 
nilanjana@khaleejtimes.com