Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)'s Ambulance Service Medical Communication Centre has been reaccredited as an Accredited Centre of Excellence (ACE) by the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch (IAED).

This follows the centre’s initial ACE recognition in 2014, the first time the accreditation was awarded in the Middle East.
Each year, the Ambulance Service Medical Communication Centre receives more than 200,000 calls at the National Command Centre. On receiving the calls, a team of dispatchers utilises a standardised triaging system to carefully assess the most appropriate action and resource required.
Dr Robert Owen, chief executive officer of HMC’s Ambulance Service, said: "This reaccreditation formally endorses the consistent quality of service provided by our teams in the Ambulance Service Medical Communication Centre.
“The role of our communication centre is often less well recognised than that of our front-line paramedics, but is no less important. Our medical dispatchers receive thousands of calls each week and it is vital that the requirements and priority of each call is determined quickly and accurately, so that the correct emergency response teams can be deployed immediately.”
Thomas Reimann, executive director of the healthcare co-ordination service, said: “As part of the successful reaccreditation, our communication centre was critically assessed on 25 requirements set out by the International Academy of Emergency Dispatch.”
The IAED is an internationally recognised organisation dedicated to the promotion of safe and effective emergency dispatch services. “Receiving this reaccreditation from IAED is a wonderful achievement for our communication teams and recognition of this vital area of our ambulance service,” Reimann added.
The IAED reaccreditation is the latest international recognition of the high-quality service provided by HMC’s Ambulance Service. It adds to a list of previous accreditations, including Joint Commission International accreditation for the entire Ambulance Service in 2011 and 2014, as well as European Aeromedical Institute accreditation for the LifeFlight Service in 2014.

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