Qatar’s first woman ambulance driver finds life in fast lane challenging (18/4/2005)

Qatar’s first woman ambulance driver finds life in fast lane challenging

By Bonnie James SURPRISE was writ large on the cab driver’s face. He found it difficult to believe that the ambulance in the next lane had a woman at the wheel. “I had to honk the horn and caution him that his car was about to hit a vehicle,” Qatar’s first woman ambulance driver and Emergency Medical Technician (EMT), Fathia Zaalani, told Gulf Times yesterday while recalling a recent experience. The Tunisian expatriate, who joined Hamad Medical Corporation’s Emergency Medical Services (EMS) as the first woman EMT five years ago, has been turning heads ever since she started doubling as a driver too. Fathia is the only woman ambulance driver and EMT of the Emergency Medical Services’ over 400 strong field staff, which has only 10 other women, all paramedics from Tunisia. Driving an advanced ambulance, Fathia and her team of two paramedics attend at least nine to 10 medical emergency calls a day. “There would be at least one cardiac arrest case, some falls from height apart from road traffic accidents,” she said while speaking about the nature of routine calls. Fathia was selected by the Accident & Emergency Department and Hamad International Training Centre (HITC) chairman Dr Abdul Wahab al-Musleh and EMS Department director Penny E Price during a recruitment tour of Tunisia. “I came to Doha after working a decade in the field of obstetrical emergency in Tunisia,” observed Fathia who did a three-year course in the speciality from the Tunis University of Medicine earlier. Though Fathia was recruited to handle obstetric emergencies, which were being managed by men staffers of EMS till then, she has proven her worth and more over the past five years. Ever since joining HMC EMS, the dynamic individual has done a total of eight courses to date, including two in English language from the British Council. Basic Trauma Life Support (BTLS) adult and paediatric, BTLS instructor, Advanced Life Support in Obstetrics and Emergency Driving are the courses she did from HITC. In addition, Fathia also cleared the prestigious US National Registry of Emergency Medical Technician Examination. “I should specially mention the constant support EMS assistant director Daniel Lalonde and training assistant director Bob Baher are giving to us for professional improvement,” she said. The most recent course Fathia took was the one in Emergency Driving. “Our driving instructor Mahmood Darwish gave me rigorous training,” she said. Being an ambulance driver calls for maximum concentration and perfect driving skills, according to Fathia, whose husband also works for HMC EMS as a paramedic. “I may have to drive at high speed to attend to an emergency call and transport a critically injured patient, without compromising safety of all concerned,” she maintained. Handling chest pain cases are among the most critical assignments for an EMS team, as it could develop into a cardiac or respiratory arrest during transport to the hospital. “Our basic aim is to slow the deterioration of brain and heart, provide basic life support and improve chances of survival,” she stated. As to how she feels among her male colleagues, Fathia said all her initial apprehensions were dispersed with their wholehearted co-operation and cordial approach. “I should say that they have totally accepted me as a team member,” remarked Fathia, a mother of two girls and a boy. Asked about her future plans, she didn’t even have to bat an eyelid to reply. “I can give more to the EMS. I am proud of my department and superiors,” she added.