Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi.

His Highness Dr Sheikh Sultan Bin Mohammed Al Qasimi, Supreme Council Member and Ruler of Sharjah, has instructed Sharjah Police’s officers to develop their ambulance system to be ready for transporting injured and sick people to any place across the UAE free of charge in the event of any delay on the part of the emirate’s National Ambulance.

This was announced on Tuesday by Hassan Yaqoub via the ‘Direct Line’ programme broadcast live on Sharjah Radio and TV.

Earlier, Major General Saif Al Zari Al Shamsi, Commander-in-Chief of Sharjah Police, confirmed via the programme that Sharjah Police’s ambulances, in co-ordination with the Social Services Department, are responsible for transporting sick elderly people to any hospital across the UAE.

The ambulances transported as many as 21,416 cases since 2018 including 3,006 cases in 2018, 3,902 in 2019, 4,488 in 2020, 4,674 in 2021 and more than 5,034 in 2022, Al Shamsi said.

The ambulance service is free of charge for the elderly who are transported to Khalifa, Cleveland Clinic and hospitals in Abu Dhabi and Tawam Hospital in Al Ain, he added, noting that the service takes several hours, whether for transferring cases or waiting until they receive medical treatment and then return them to Sharjah, Eastern Regions or Central Region.

Al Shamsi explained that the cost of equipping an ambulance ranges between Dhs700,000 to Dhs800,000, and its nursing staff are tasked with preparing patients at home and transporting them most comfortably until they are admitted to the concerned hospitals.