CATHERINE W GICHUKI
DOHA
THE Hamad Medical Corporation's (HMC) Ambulance Service on Sunday recognised the family and the team involved in the safe delivery of a girl at home in Qatar. The delivery was made possible because the father of the baby followed the instructions of a call-taker from the National Command Service of the Ambulance Service.
The father Charles Kayondo assisted his wife Habiba Boukhari Kayondo to deliver their daughter Eman on July 14, 2016.
The family of the Ambulance Service Medical Dispatcher Syed Asad Moazzam Ali Shah was also recognised on the occasion.
Speaking to media persons on Sunday, Ambulance Service Operation Manager for Quality Improvement Sonia Sliman Bounouh said a call was received at 4am that the wife was giving birth at home. The call taker guided the caller and baby was delivered safely with the help of the father."The father was calm and followed the instructions to deliver, clean the patient and the baby's airway," she said.
According to her, they wanted the family to share their experience with the Ambulance Service on the occasion of the second birthday of the child.
Ambulance Service Assistant Executive Director Ali Darwish said that the computerised pre-arrival instructions system at the National Command Center allows the call taker to receive calls from the members of the public who are not educated about healthcare and are not healthcare providers and convert the information into clinical information.
"The system helps the call taker to collect information and guide the caller accordingly. The information given is called pre-arrival information. It is aimed at saving the patient's life or at least making him/her stable."
The official added,"For instance, when one calls '999' and explains the condition of a loved one, we take the information, turn it into clinical information and give instructions so that the patient's condition remains stable until the arrival of the ambulance."
According to him, Ambulance Service does this for cardiac cases as well as accident cases, such as fire victims, falling from height, near drowning and delivery cases. He said Eman's birth is an example of how the Ambulance Service receives call, interprets the information and then turns it back to the caller as instruction (pre-arrival instruction).