The decision was the outcome of talks held on Saturday between Health Minister Dr. Abdullah Al-Rabeeah and Saudi Red Crescent Authority President Prince Faisal bin Abdullah.

Following the meeting at the ministry headquarters, Prince Faisal said the two parties had agreed to work on a common strategy that would be agreed upon within the next four months.

“We do not want the two bodies to duplicate their activities. We have identified areas where the two can work together to provide people with improved emergency care,” the prince said. He added that such comprehensive planning would raise the standard of health care in the Kingdom.

Officials from both organizations will hold workshops to explore new areas of cooperation in emergency cases. The ministry also plans to provide helipads in hospitals in all regions so that emergency patients can be ferried without loss of time by the Red Crescent to hospitals. The prince pointed out that the ministry has a wide network of hospitals in all parts of the Kingdom and that it would be easier for the Red Crescent to coordinate the transfer of patients from one point to another.

Al-Rabeeah said such cooperation would definitely benefit accident victims and those who need emergency care. He said the ministry was determined to include all categories of patients in providing the best health care.

The ministry recently opened an Emergency Control Center to coordinate the transfer of emergency patients to and from hospitals in all parts of the Kingdom. Established on a directive from Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah, the center will benefit patients who need to be transferred to a facility where better treatment is available.

The center, which operates in coordination with the Red Crescent, is open round the clock.  It has a hot line  — 01-2124133 — with a medical team composed of a doctor and technicians who can attend to phone calls. The center is electronically linked to emergency rooms in all ministry hospitals in the Kingdom.