Bahrain walkways call for medics
A group of parliamentarians demanded that the government provide paramedics at public walkways in the country. The MPs said in a proposal, which will be reviewed before the Council on Tuesday, that “no medical assistance of any kind is provided at public walkways.”
They said, “It’s necessary to provide paramedical services at public walkways to prevent human casualties caused by unexpected fatigue or cardiac strokes that could occur while practising sports.”
The proposal, presented by five MPs earlier this year, was studied by the Council’s Services Committee.
The Committee agreed to the proposal, after communicating with Health Ministry, and it will be presented for voting during the Council’s weekly session on Tuesday.
“Each walkway in Bahrain should be provided with a facilitated treatment rooms to provide urgent paramedical services,” the report read.
The Ministry’s reply to the proposal included, “The objectives of the proposal are existing. Paramedical services should be provided at walkways on a 24-hour basis. This includes walkways in all the Kingdom’s governorates. To implement such a proposal, one paramedic should be assigned at each walkway and should be provided the necessary medical equipment and required space.”
However, the Ministry also said that “the implementation of the proposal is complicated, due to the required manpower, tasks assigned and working timings of the paramedics on the field.”
The proposal presenters said, “Walking became a popular sports in Bahrain and the increase of walkways recently makes providing first- aid services at them a necessity. It’s very likely that emergency situations could occur while performing walking or jogging exercises, such as heart strokes, fatigue and low blood sugar or pressure. This proposal is to avoid any casualties among the public.”
The last walkway accident was reported in Aali walkway in June, when an elderly Bahraini died while walking following a sharp drop of blood circulation that was caused by fatigue.
Aiming to promote healthy lifestyles among Bahrainis, the government constructed several walkways in different areas in the country during the past decade, such as Isa Town, Diraz, Muharraq, Arad, Manama, Aali, Awali and Riffa.
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