olivelarkin

Hello - a bit of an odd question here... we are considering moving to Abu Dhabi in the new year. My son has severe food allergies (anaphylaxis) and we've recently had a few scary trips in the ambulance after accidental exposure at his daycare. A few of the Abu Dhabi blogs mentioned that the ambulance service and emergency care in Abu Dhabi is not great. Does anyone have any first hand experience? Thanks!

smilingcamel

Its been some years since I lived in Abu Dhabi but there was a British Doctor in the City that was very helpful. He may not be there now but if he is, he would be a good guy to get advice from. Its worth a try. Services Offered
With your boys condition I would recommend you get some professional advice. I know from some experience that Ambulances seem to get to road accidents quite quickly but not sure how they would get react to a residential call.

smilingcamel

Actually I had another Dig. It looks as if he has possibly closed his surgery in 2012 but his linked-in shows him still in the UAE.
https://www.linkedin.com/pub/jpr-mcculloch/10/10a/b84

seven seas

The problem will be with others, not the medical care. Getting people to acknowledge that he has an allergy.

I still remember introducing my girlfriend's food preferences to my grandparents: A vegetarian? She can have ham sandwiches though?

archie159

The Ambulance service is something I never want to try in AD. They stop at most traffic lights, move slowly, and no-one gets out of their way at all. I once saw them attend a road accident, and the first thing the paramedic did was to get out and shake the hands of the 10 odd policemen standing around, a few onlookers etc... only then dealing with the casualty. That being said, a doctor friend of mine has said that recently they have significantly improved the quality of paramedic care, with quite a few (european, I think) well-trained paramedics recruited. So my main worry would be traffic and travel times.

I think emergency care at the major hospitals is OK - I needed it once, and got a young, switched-on American doctor, and was then transferred to a German specialist in the hospital. Ironically, I had the same incident in the UK about 3 years earlier, and it was completely missed by the UK doctor (hence why I had it a second time over here - now sorted insha'allah).

If I had a child whose life seriously depended upon the need to get to hospital rapidly (I don't know what that means in your case - I suppose I'm talking 20 mins or less) then I'd ensure that I lived and schooled him within a few blocks maximum of one of the better hospitals. Clearly you'd need to discuss all this with the nursery/school also.

olivelarkin

Thanks so much for your replies. I completely agree that we need to live/school very close to a good hospital. Can you please let me know which hospitals have a good (or terrible) reputation among expats?

We really appreciate your advice.

archie159

SKMC is where I was taken (between 11th and 9th St, 2nd and 24th). Though they no longer take expat in-patients, they do take emergencies.
Further down the island, Al Noor on Airport Rd.
Off-island, I've heard Mafraq hospital near Bawabat Mall or Al Rahba on the Dubai road will suffice.
I've no idea whether the new Cleveland Clinic will have an emergency ward.
If you've not asked there already, I'd think you might get some good advice on the abudhabiwoman website - it is the sort of question which gets asked and discussed more often over there than here.

busybee2

he has left theuae but his practice is still open, dr samir has been in uae for nearly 20 years and she is really good too.