Proceeding from the interest paid by the government of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, May Allah protect him, towards providing the best services for pilgrims and harnessing all capabilities to help them perform the rituals easily, the Emergency and Crisis Department at Makkah Health Affairs Directorate has kept on preparation for the Hajj season of this year.
The Director of the Emergency and Crisis Department at Makkah Health Affairs Directorate, Dr. Hattan Mohammed Boujan, said that preparations were made in cooperation with hospitals in Makkah and the holy sites in order to deal with any emergency cases or crises, and to provide plans for medical evacuation; adding that all the hospitals were revisited to assess their readiness and ensure that all their employees are aware of application of the emergency and medical evacuation plan, as well as their assigned tasks.
Dr. Boujan further noted that a number of hypotheses (internal and external) has been conducted to measure the level of performance, and raise the degree of employees' readiness, with the participation of other governmental agencies involved in the implementation of those hypotheses.
Furthermore, Dr. Boujan remarked that the shelter centers have coordinated with the hospitals located in the capital city and holy sites to select the field teams that will participate in those centers, if needed.
Besides, Makkah Health Affairs Directorate coordinated with the relevant authorities to equip such centers with workforce, furniture, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices.
Within the same vein, Dr. Boujan stressed that the airstrips on the hospitals of the capital city and holy sites have become ready so early to receive any emergency case, adding that a committee was formed to ascertain the validity of these airstrips so as to avoid any constraints that may limit the landing and take-off processes.
The hospitals include Al-Nour Specialized Hospital, Heraa General Hospital, and Arafat General Hospital. It is worth mentioning that the experiences were conducted with participation of governmental agencies, so as to determine the degree of readiness and, thankfully, all the experiences were conducted with success.