Friday 02 / August / 2024
Muscat: Ambulance drivers and the Royal Oman Police (ROP) are calling on drivers to make way for emergency vehicles.
In 2016, 616 died in accidents on Oman’s roads and more than 70 per cent of ambulance call-outs are to trauma cases caused by road accidents.
Oman’s ambulance services respond to more than 9,000 emergencies annually - 25 a day- but emergency crews say they face a daily battle to get through traffic.
A spokesperson for the ROP said that while there has been an improvement in motorists giving way to emergency vehicles, drivers must give way even at red lights, and that not adhering to the rules could cause loss of life and lead to a hefty fine. “It’s illegal for people to not give way to emergency vehicles. Police vehicles, fire trucks, and ambulances are all considered emergency vehicles and motorists must make way for them. Not doing so will be considered a traffic violation,” the spokesperson said.
“This all comes down to awareness. It’s important for drivers to be aware of their surroundings, and towards emergency vehicles. The ambulance is carrying a patient in need of treatment, the fire truck is on its way to a fire and people have to understand that they are on their way to an emergency.”
Abdullah Al Maamari, Head of Transport at Muscat Private Hospital, said that when an ambulance is flashing blue lights and blaring its siren, the patient inside is usually in a critical condition and needs to get to hospital as quickly as possible. “We are always driving the ambulance as per the instructions of the medical team.
“A major problem we face is when we are near the traffic light and it is red.
“There will be lots of cars ahead of us. In spite of the lights and horn of the ambulance, we do not get co-operation from the cars on the road to move ahead faster,” Maamari said.
The lack of cooperation from motorists is extremely stressful on the drivers. “We always use the fast lane and avoid the slow lanes. Even though we maintain the standards recommended by the medical team and ROP, it is very difficult many times to reach on time when we have a patient bleeding or have a medical emergency where we need to reach the hospital immediately,” Maamari added. At KIMS Hospital, Administration Manager Mohamed Al Balushi is also fed up with inconsiderate motorists.
“I used to be an ambulance driver before, and I can tell you, motorists don’t give way, especially to private hospital ambulances. Even if you turn on the sirens and lights, they still won’t move,” Balushi said.
He added that he was delayed in transferring a patient because of motorists blocking the way.
“We had the doctors and nurses waiting a long time for us to arrive. We were so late because people wouldn’t move. Thankfully the patient wasn’t in critical condition, or else who knows what would have happened.”
According to NCSI data, 223 expatriates, 29 of them females, died in road accidents in 2016. 393 Omanis lost their lives in road accidents including 62 females. The number of injuries on the roads declined by 23.1 per cent from 3,338 in 2015 to 2,604 last year. The number of Omanis injured in traffic accidents decreased by 24.4 per cent to 1,949, while the number of injured expatriates dipped 19 per cent to 655.
Government data states that over 70 per cent of emergencies dealt with by ambulance services in 2015 were trauma cases due to road accidents.
In 2015, the number of ambulance services provided in Oman in response to requests involving trauma and medical emergency cases stood at 11,123.
The Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance responded to 11,123 cases in 2015, compared with 10,517 in 2014. There were 9,889 cases in 2013, while in 2012, 9,230 cases were reported. Overall, the number of road accidents, resulting in both injuries and deaths, fell by 35.6 per cent during January-November, 2016.
