“The Ministry of Health (MOH) has assigned 20 isolation rooms in the East Arafat Hospital within the Holy Sites,” said Dr. Abdulaziz bin Hamid Al-Ghamdi, the MOH Director-General of Hospitals; and Head of the Hajj Technical Supervision Committee. “This aims at receiving the Corona and Ebola viruses suspected cases.
Similarly, it prepared a laboratory within the hospital for detecting the Coronavirus and Ebola cases. The results of the samples come out within six hours.”
Dr. Al-Ghamdi went on affirming that the MOH has prepared for this year’s Hajj season with fully fledged system of health and preventive services. They are provided through the latest technical means, high quality, more inclusive manner, and highly qualified training workforce. This is meant for guaranteeing the highest distinction levels in performance, exerting more effort and making this year’s Hajj season smoother and safer. This is through direct and ongoing coordination with all the bodies taking part in the Hajj season.
Still, at a press conference held yesterday in Mina Emergency Hospital, Dr. Al-Ghamdi said that the MOH delivers different therapeutic services through the permanent and seasonal health facilities in the Hajj areas. They are provided through 25 hospitals in the Hajj areas with 5250 bed capacity; of these are 4200 inpatient beds in the sections, 500 intensive care beds and 550 emergency beds.
Similarly, during the conference, Dr. Omar Al-Yahia, member of the Hajj Technical Supervision Committee, spoke about the health centers in the Holy Sites, remarking that the MOH equipped a number of the health centers for serving the Hajj performers this year, of which there are permanent ones and up and running all year round; and there are others seasonal working around the clock during the Hajj.
In a similar fashion, Dr. Al-Yahia noted that the centers are entirely distributed to the Holy Sites and Hajj areas; of these are 43 centers in the Holy Capital, 46 centers in Arafat, 6 centers in the Muzdalifah walkway, 26 centers in Mina, 16 emergency centers in the Jamaraat Bridge and 20 centers in Madinah.
Further, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Ghamdi touched upon the preparing of three medical convoys for having the inpatients in the Makkah, Madinah and Mina hospitals ascend the Mount of Arafat, with self-contained medical crew accompanied.
As far as the workforce is concerned, Dr. Al-Ghamdi pointed out that more than 22 thousand people of the Workforce Program have been assigned. They belong to all the medical and administrative categories from all the Kingdom’s regions.
As regards the Technical Supervision Committee, Dr. al-Ghamdi made clear that it is formed by a constellation of consultants distinguished in the different medical specialties; with the aim of making sure that the medical work in the hospitals and health centers adheres to the medical policies and procedures recognized. He went on to add that the preparations of this year’s Hajj season started once the last Hajj season finished, unveiling that field tours have been conducted to the hospitals and health centers in Makkah and Madinah as of the beginning of Dhul-Qaedah. They aim at inspecting these facilities and how ready they are for receiving the Hajj performers. Still, starting Dhul-Hijjah, these tours have been intensified for verifying that the workforce has completed and distributed to the entire sections; and how ready they are.
For his part, the Deputy Head of the Technical Supervision Committee, Dr. Said Al-Ghamdi said that the MOH conducted eight training courses in the hospitals of the Holy Sites. And it did so in each hospital for three days. These courses are accredited by the Saudi Commission for Health Specialties (SCHS) by 19 hours of continuing medical education. He further noted that the courses focused on the cardiopulmonary resuscitation, sunstrokes, dealing with disasters, injuries and burns and infectious control during the Hajj season.
“In each hospital, six hours have been assigned for infectious control specialists for giving lecture on the latest developments, Coronavirus and Ebola infection control ways, hand cleaning, testing the appropriateness of the highly efficient nose cover and personal and environmental protection means. In addition to this, an hour has been designated in each hospital for a work team from the Command and Control Center for speaking about the back-up plans meant for dealing with the Coronavirus and Ebola during the Hajj season,” Dr. Said Al-Ghamdian went on adding.
In the meantime, Dr. Al-Ghamdi revealed that manuals, with four thousand copies printed, have been issued for the health practitioners during the Hajj season. These copies have been distributed to the health practitioners in the health facilities of the Hajj areas and the Holy Sites and heads of the medical missions. He went on confirming that the manual has been revised, updated and printed, as well as adding a part on the Coronavirus, Ebola, heat stress and sunstrokes.
In a similar fashion, Dr. Abdulaziz Al-Ghamdi has brought up the measures of fighting the Coronavirus and Ebola during the Hajj season, pointing out that the citizens of the states affected have been denied entrance as a precautionary measure. All the more, quarantines and advanced detection procedures in the Hajj venues have been provided.
As regards the suspected cases within the Holy Sites, Dr. Al-Ghamdi remarked that a self-contained unit has been assigned in the East Arafat Hospital, made up of 20 isolation rooms for the infected cases. Further, 32 intensive care beds have been prepared as modernized, fully-equipped isolation rooms in the Uhud General Hospital in Madinh, as well as what exists in the entire hospitals of the Holy Sites, Makkah and Madinah. “In each hospital, there are four beds designated for infection suspect cases equipped in a way that isolates the virus by specialized filtering devices,” he went on to add.
Still, Dr. Al-Ghamdi unveiled that new devices have been secured for dealing with heat stress cases and sunstrokes. They are fans operated by the coolant spray in all the hospitals and health centers; of these are 16 fans in each hospital and 100 ones in the health centers, as well as previously-made preparations in the hospitals, such as Makkah cool devices and intensive care devices operated by the central vein.
Likewise, Dr. Al-Ghamdi affirmed that the MOH has expanded the cardiac catheterization program and heart surgery operations in the King Abdullah Medical City in the Holy Capital and the hospitals of the Hajj areas, in addition to providing the endoscopy services in the entire hospitals of the Holy Sites, dialysis machines with trained medical crews, CT scan devices in the Emergency Tower in Mina, Mina Al-Wadi Hospital and East Arafat Hospital; and Makkah and Madinah hospitals.
Finally, Dr. Al-Ghamdi unveiled that this year, the MOH has introduced the Ecmo Program team in which specialized teams are assigned for treating the critical cases requiring medical intervention for supporting the lungs in terms of the Coronavirus cases and others. The device works on oxidizing the blood and removing the carbon dioxide by using the central vein. Also, it has drawn on the swift intervention team, and roaming the Holy Sites with a team of diverse specialties.