JEDDAH, 18 April 2004 — The Red Crescent Society has denied a report that the critically injured victim of a traffic accident died because the ambulance transporting him caught fire.
Witnesses told Arabic newspapers that smoke began pouring from the engine of the 1994 model ambulance as it crossed over Briman Bridge. The Civil Defense rushed to the scene, but by the time they put out the fire, the patient was dead.
But the Red Crescent Society denies that the delay in reaching the hospital resulted in the victim’s death.
Red Crescent Society General Manager Dr. Khaled Al-Hibshi said the emergency service received a call about a traffic accident on Al-Haramein Street and dispatched two ambulances.
According to Al-Hibshi, when the ambulances arrived, the victim was dead. “The patient didn’t die in the ambulance. He was already dead when we picked up the body. It is not our normal procedure to transport dead bodies, but in this case we made an exception in order to provide some dignity for the deceased,” Al-Hibshi said.
It is this decision that casts some doubt on whether the victim was dead at the scene or died as a result of the delay. “Why would they tie up an ambulance to transport a dead man when it could be better utilized standing by to help someone who was alive somewhere else? It doesn’t make any sense,” said a nurse at King Fahd Hospital. “There are special cars used to transport the dead, so the fact that the ambulance accepted the patient indicates to me that he was alive,” she said.
According to witnesses at the scene of the accident, there were two victims, both alive when they were placed in the ambulances.
A paramedic said emergency medical services are inadequate. “The ambulances are old and not well maintained,” said Ken Haase, a paramedic formerly with King Abdul Aziz Airport.
More often than not, when people call the emergency number to ask for an ambulance, it is busy. Ambulance services are so unreliable that most people prefer to bring in the sick or injured by car or by private ambulance, he said.
“In the United States, an ambulance is required to be on the scene of an accident within four minutes of receiving the emergency call. Here in Saudi it takes much longer. The fact that street names practically don’t exist doesn’t help response times at all. Ambulance drivers can’t find the people they are meant to help. Traffic delays and drivers not yielding when they hear the sirens or see the flashing lights all contribute to the delay in getting patients to hospital.
“Any of these factors could have been to blame for the delay in reaching the hospital, in addition to the fire — which could happen anywhere. It would be unfair to say that the fire killed this man,” Haase added.
