The establishment of a medical council was announced about two weeks ago. In the same spirit, I hope that attention to emergency medical services will be top priority on the council’s list since concrete, practical action is urgently needed in this area
The status of emergency services is one significant area by which one can see the level of real development in a city or country. Speaking locally, we know that no recommendations based on actual studies have been implemented. More than 10 years ago, research on emergency medical services was carried out but nothing was done. Researchers also submitted conclusive lists and results aimed at development and improvement but none of that has been implemented. What surprised me even more was the announcement by King Abdul Aziz Science and Technology City that it wants to sponsor new research into emergency medical services. No reference at all was made of the earlier studies or the earlier research.
Even after the research has been done, we will still have the same problem from which so many of our problems spring: The absence of scientific concepts and terms that focus on the administration of emergency medical services. This absence is felt most keenly among those working in the medical fields, especially representatives of the Ministry of Health.
The ministry should focus exclusively on people’s health and welfare but there is such an enormous gap between its services and the health services provided by entities such as the National Guard or Saudi Aramco. And no one can allege that financing is the reason for the differences and discrepancies in the Ministry of Health and its services in comparison with other health institutions. What is needed is a restructuring. The bureaucratic cover-up does not compensate for the lack of human resources; it does not — and cannot — compensate for the absence of specialized knowledge or effective manpower and active willpower.
Let me come plainly and directly to the point. The state of our emergency medical services is such that we cannot allow additional time to be spent on research and study. What is needed is a power whose responsibility is to provide emergency national medical services. I fervently hope that this new medical council will succeed in planning such a project with a specialized team-force. Last year I submitted a paper on this subject to Crown Prince Abdullah and I received an immediate and effective response — that is until the matter was transferred to other areas. And up to this point, nobody seems to know who is responsible for transporting the dead off the streets? Is it the job of the municipality or of charities? Or do we just wait for a miracle?
