Dubai, 18 January, 2009:  Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan Tamim, Chief of Dubai Police today toured the Emergency and Trauma Centre at Rashid Hospital to get an overview of the disaster preparedness plan the hospital has in place.

Lt. Gen Tamim is the Director of the Dubai Disaster Management Committee and he and his delegation visited the Trauma Centre, for it is the state-of-the-art accident and emergency centre equipped to deal with any disaster that may affect Dubai and/or the Northern Emirates.

His Excellency Qadhi Saeed Al Murooshid, Director General of the Dubai Health Authority welcomed the delegation and highlighted that the Trauma Centre is the only one-of-its-kind centre in the Middle East and that there are very few centres of this level that operate around the world.  

He explained all the services that are available at the hospital including the crucial disaster management plan.  He mentioned that the Emergency and Trauma Centre is a specialised centre which is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and highly qualified doctors who deal with trauma cases on a day-to-day basis. The centre is also equipped to deal with any level of disaster that may strike Dubai or the Northern Emirates.

Lt Gen Tamim and his delegation toured all the facilities available in the trauma centre including the helipad section which is used to bring in critical patients, the resuscitation rooms, the different levels of facilities available according to the level of triage, the operating theatres etc.

Lt Gen Tamim also toured the disaster management control room. The control room is the nerve-centre from where the hospital will coordinate with other hospitals in the Emirate of Dubai as well as other departments such as the Ambulance Centre, the Dubai Police and the Civil Defence when any disaster strikes. The control room will also assist in managing the flow of patients to hospitals in Dubai during such times.  

Dr Shawqi Khoory, CEO of Rashid Hospital, Dr Younis Kazim, Director of Rashid Hospital and Dr Moin Fikree, Clinical Director of the Hospital provided an overview of the services available at the hospital.  

At the end of his tour Lt Gen Tamim said that he was pleased to see the high-level of services available at the Trauma centre. He mentioned that such a centre of excellence strengthens Dubai’s position in the medical field and that he was very pleased with the disaster management and preparedness plan that the hospital has in place.