Saudi Civil Defense steps up safety plan for Hajj

MAKKAH: Teams involved in the implementation of the medical evacuation plan and addressing emergencies involving hazardous materials during the Hajj season held a meeting on Saturday to coordinate their work to maintain pilgrim safety.
The meeting, chaired by Maj. Khalid bin Abdulkarim Al-Awdah, assistant director of Civil Defense in Makkah, highlighted efforts to implement medical evacuation plans, the emergency paramedical and medical teams formed and their positioning at the holy sites, the Holy Mosque and the surrounding squares during the Hajj, especially at peak times such as “Tarwiyah” day, “Arafah” day, Eid Al-Adha day and “Tashreeq” days.
The meeting also discussed procedures to support medical evacuation with ambulatory and medical teams provided by the health affairs authority in Makkah during Arafah, positioned in the vicinity of Namirah Mosque and Mount Arafat.
Participants were briefed on the level of readiness of the medical evacuation points at the holy sites’ train stations, as well as the medical evacuation teams on the train route and ways of dealing with obstacles that hinder implementing medical evacuation.