Emergencies in Dubai: It’s a Saturday evening and a group of western expats at the Emirates Living come together for a game of football. A little after half time, one of them, just 27, suddenly collapses. The team desperately wants to help but cannot do much. Questions fly on whether any one of them knows CPR, even as there are doubts on whether it can be administered. Someone calls for the ambulance which arrives in a flash but the man, who has suffered a massive heart attack, is already dead.
Elsewhere in Bur Dubai, an Indian couple is walking down Bank Street when they notice an old woman tripping on the pavement and falling squarely on the ground. Their instincts dictate that they should reach out to her, but they are not so sure if they can help. The woman, writhing in pain, gestures to other bystanders and asks them to call her son who later takes her to the doctor.
Instances such as these raise several questions in the UAE: Can a bystander assist in times of an accident? Can anyone drive a victim to hospital? Can anyone trained in CPR administer it on a patient in need? Does the UAE have a Good Samaritan Law that protects a bystander if he were to help out?