{"id":17303,"date":"2025-09-20T18:52:27","date_gmt":"2025-09-20T16:52:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/?p=17303"},"modified":"2026-10-24T15:03:59","modified_gmt":"2026-10-24T13:03:59","slug":"ambulance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zawia3.com\/en\/ambulance\/","title":{"rendered":"Out of Reach: Egypt\u2019s Ambulance Failures Put the Right to Care at Risk"},"content":{"rendered":"

When Amira, twelve years old, fell from the first floor and began fighting for her life, her family did not think of calling an ambulance. Their neighbour quickly carried her and took the nearest “tuk-tuk” in an attempt to save her life. But this was not the case years ago, when the Egyptian ambulance was considered the nearest and most reliable option for saving patients, especially in critical cases.<\/span><\/p>\n

Her mother, Asmaa Youssef (42), from Sohag Governorate, tells Zawia3: “In the past, the ambulance was a safe haven and a lifeline in crises, but things have changed. Today, we do not dare wait for it, because it may not arrive in time, or it may come with hardly any equipment.”<\/span><\/p>\n

She adds: “In Amira’s case, the nearest hospital was only ten minutes away, and yet we did not consider the ambulance an option, because of previous experiences in which the response was delayed by more than an hour and a half. People today act according to the rule: ‘save yourself by yourself’, because relying on the ambulance may mean condemning the patient to a slow death.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past years, the Egyptian Ambulance Authority has suffered from chronic structural and material problems<\/a>. A number of drivers, paramedics and employees who spoke to Zawia3 agree on low wages, long working hours, and the absence of the capabilities necessary to provide fair treatment services to patients.<\/p>\n

Workers affirm that a large proportion of the ambulances in service have exceeded their lifespan by decades. Many paramedics also work in harsh conditions that lack the minimum of equipment, such as blood pressure or oxygen devices, and sometimes even cardiac resuscitation devices. Some vehicles, as they pointed out, contain nothing but a stretcher, which makes the paramedic’s work more like a gamble, and turns the patient, as they describe it, into a passenger threatened with death.<\/p>\n

The crisis is not limited to the shortage of equipment, but extends to a shortage of human cadres. The number of qualified paramedics is not proportionate to the size of the population or the number of daily calls, at a time when the authority oversees thousands of cases every day.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

According to data from the Egyptian Ambulance Authority, the ambulance fleet<\/span> comprises<\/span><\/a> about 3,300 vehicles as of October 2024, with plans<\/span> to add<\/span><\/a> 1,000 new vehicles as part of the “Decent Life” initiative. But this number, despite its increase, is still far from meeting international standards, as the World Health Organization<\/span> recommends<\/span><\/a> providing one ambulance for every 50,000 people in urban areas, which means that Egypt needs about 2,080 additional vehicles to reach the minimum. In addition, the distribution of ambulances in Egypt faces major geographical challenges that affect the efficiency of emergency services. Most ambulances are concentrated in the major urban areas such as Cairo and Alexandria because of high population density, while remote governorates such as New Valley and North and South Sinai suffer from a noticeable shortage of vehicles.<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition, ambulances in Egypt face challenges related to the availability of vital equipment such as ventilators and vital-signs monitors, especially in some areas;<\/span> reports<\/span><\/a> indicate that part of the ambulance fleet may lack advanced medical equipment, which affects the quality of care while patients are being transported. Despite the efforts made to modernise the fleet, there is still an urgent need to equip all vehicles with the necessary equipment to ensure an effective response in emergencies.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u0625\u0633\u0639\u0627\u0641 \u0628\u0644\u0627 \u0625\u0646\u0635\u0627\u0641.. \u0643\u064a\u0641 \u062a\u062a\u062c\u0627\u0647\u0644 \u0627\u0644\u062d\u0643\u0648\u0645\u0629 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0635\u0631\u064a\u0629 \u062d\u0642\u0648\u0642 \u0627\u0644\u0645\u0633\u0639\u0641\u064a\u0646\u061f<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n