'CDD to secure transport for patients with scheduled kidney dialysis during storm'

AMMAN — The Civil Defence Department (CDD) will contact kidney patients to transport them to hospitals for their scheduled visits during the expected snowstorm if they do not call, an official said Tuesday.

“The department has the names, addresses and phone numbers of 2,015 kidney patients across the Kingdom who undergo dialysis,” CDD Media Director Brig. Gen. Farid Sharaa told The Jordan Times.

The record, prepared by the Health Ministry, also includes the names of the hospitals where patients undergo dialysis and is regularly updated, Sharaa added.

“Each hour matters for the patients’ health,” he said in a phone interview.

“Transporting these patients to hospital is not the department’s duty on normal days… but it becomes a priority in emergency situations,” he said.

The department’s 162 armoured personnel carriers, which can travel on ice, snow and water, are mainly deployed in areas that are expected to witness heavy snowfall this week, including the governorates of Ajloun, Balqa, Tafileh and Karak, he said.

“Each of the CDD’s 174 stations across the Kingdom is manned with trained personnel and equipped with ambulances and fire engines,” Sharaa added.

He also urged people to stay at home and only venture out for urgent errands, noting that cars that are not equipped to operate in snow get stuck and block roads, which hinders the movement of CDD vehicles, citing the hundreds of cars abandoned on the streets during the snowstorm that hit the Kingdom in late 2013.

In case of emergencies, residents of all governorates can call the department on 911.

A nurse at a public hospital, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said CDD personnel do a “great” job in bringing kidney patients to the hospital for their dialysis sessions.

“Sometimes when the roads are full of cars the patients arrive a little late,” she said, highlighting that not all public hospitals use snow-ready vehicles to transport their staff.

“The CDD gives priority for patients, as medical institutions should provide safe transportation for their workers,” she said, adding that there are some 60 kidney patients who undergo dialysis regularly at the hospital where she works.

In a related development, the Health Ministry on Tuesday activated its emergency plan for the duration of the snowstorm, according to a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times.

The plan includes full preparation of medical and technical staff and facilitating access to their workplaces, in addition to ambulances.

It also covers the provision of medical supplies, fuel and electricity generators to public hospitals and healthcare facilities.

Jordan Medical Association President Hashem Abu Hassan also expressed doctors’ willingness to cooperate in helping those in need to minimise the effect of the impending blizzard.