New Year Eve... ready for the unexpected: Dubai Ambulance

Nearly two million or more are expected to be down in Downtown Dubai, on the biggest night of the year.

Last New Year’s eve, 1.7 million were in attendance to witness the spectacular fireworks display at the Burj Khalifa.

Also on site, will be the Dubai Ambulance crew.

Speaking to ‘Emirates 24|7’, the Director of Medical and Technical Affairs at Dubai Corporation for Ambulance Services (DCAS) said: “We will be fully present until morning and we hope that this year will be even better than last year.”

Dr Omar explained: “All our crisis management, our disaster response team, and our staff have been briefed, and we are fully ready for any unexpected circumstances.”

Prepared for that big night, the DCAS has added 28 new ambulances to its current fleet of 211. And 20 of those ambulances and their crew will be based at Downtown Dubai alone due to its large size.

The Burj Khalifa neighbourhood will not be the only closely guarded area on New Year’s eve. The DCAS will also be deploying 100 per cent of its fleet and staff across various points in Dubai.

“Starting from December 30, we are all not working at our offices, we will be 100 per cent operational on sites,” he said.

Dr Omar continued: ”Even our technical staff who are usually in the office, will work that night as a medic along with the crew, who will be on-duty 24/7.”

Dr Omar explained: “They will be paying a closer attention on 28 main activity areas. These areas include the Burj Khalifa and Dubai Mall, the Palm, Burj Al Arab, Atlantis, and all the major hotels are covered by us, mainly where the fireworks display will take place.”

He added, “We will have a large number of crew based at Dubai Mall, due to the size and crowd it attracts, so every year we are improving, and continue to improve, we are doing our best, and from the previous experience, we are even more prepared.”

Last year, the DCAS received  1324 calls on new year’s eve until the next day.

“The calls began at 5pm on December 31, 2013, going on until 5am on January 1, 2014.

However, out of those 1,000-plus calls, the crew only had to send out 11 ambulances.

“The other patients did not require the ambulances to be sent out as the medics were already available on site to give them the treatment and attention they needed,” explained Dr Omar.

He described this as one of the main advantages of having the team deployed across various sites in Dubai.

“We are here to help the people of Dubai and its visitors, perform our job successfully and save lives, and  with all our preparations, we are ready and looking forward to ring in the New Year.”

Follow Emirates 24|7 on Google News.