Um Al-Qura publishes national policy to boost emergency safety in public spaces, workplaces

Um Al-Qura newspaper published on Friday the national policy to enhance emergency medical safety in public spaces and workplaces.

The policy comes in line with directives from the Saudi leadership and is rooted in Vision 2030, which aims to improve public health and protect lives by providing and facilitating timely access to emergency medical services.

This policy is based on the principles of sustainable development adopted by the Saudi government, recognizing that people are the core of development and its most vital resource, making their health and well-being a priority.

The policy outlines a set of activities and practices designed to ensure individuals receive appropriate, high-quality emergency care quickly, helping to prevent injuries and illnesses or mitigate their effects and limit their escalation.

The policy document addresses key principles to raise the level of emergency safety in public spaces and workplaces, ensuring the protection of visitors and workers, improving access to emergency supplies, and enabling rapid first aid. This reduces health complications, eases the burden on the healthcare system, improves patient outcomes, and lowers costs, all supporting the protection of people from diseases and injuries.

The policy is structured around five main pillars representing national priorities:
- Emergency response
- Safety in public spaces
- Empowering the community to withstand individual emergencies
- Managing out-of-hospital cardiac and respiratory arrest
- Emergency response responsibilities

Policy contents

Introduction - Policy principles - Policy objectives - Scope of application - Policy pillars - Regulatory framework - Governance and procedures.

Introduction
The national policy to enhance emergency safety in public spaces and workplaces reflects Saudi Arabia's commitment to achieving its national vision and aspirations, in line with the rapid global development in healthcare services. The policy aims to raise emergency safety standards in public spaces and workplaces, ensuring the protection of visitors and staff, improving access to emergency supplies, and enabling timely care for the injured, which helps reduce health complications and improve patient outcomes in healthcare facilities.

Driven by the leadership's goal to reduce complications and deaths caused by delayed emergency services in public spaces, this policy demonstrates the Kingdom's commitment to addressing emergency service challenges and promoting occupational health and safety, in line with local regulations and international treaties to which Saudi Arabia is a party, as well as global best practices. The policy is based on a shared national vision to guide and develop the emergency services sector, identify its needs and priorities, provide necessary resources, and improve health and safety in public spaces and workplaces by establishing clear principles that promote inclusivity, quality, and accessibility of emergency services. This is vital to keep pace with Saudi Arabia's development and economic and social progress, and to enhance its positive image regionally and internationally.

This policy is a national project based on a participatory approach with stakeholders in emergency services, involving them in policy development to ensure its comprehensiveness and coverage of all issues affecting emergency service delivery and rapid response. Through this policy, relevant authorities will regulate provisions to raise emergency safety standards in public spaces and workplaces under their control, management, or supervision, whether governmental or private.

Definitions
- Authority: Saudi Red Crescent Authority.
- Public spaces: Locations frequented by groups of people, excluding private residences, whether open all day or at specific times, free or paid. Examples include, but are not limited to: mosques, government facilities, sports venues, medical facilities, educational institutions (schools, institutes, universities, etc.), parks, roads, beaches, various transport means, airports, public transport stations, exhibitions, markets, malls, hotels, restaurants, cafes, museums, theaters, cinemas, entertainment venues, and more.
- Workplaces: Locations where employees or workers perform their duties under the supervision of the relevant authority or employer, either permanently or temporarily.
- Public supervisory authorities: Government entities or their affiliates that control, manage, or supervise a public space.
- Private supervisory authorities: Private entities that control, manage, or supervise a public space.
- Emergency safety: A set of standards and requirements aimed at ensuring public health and safety in public spaces.
- Emergency services: Provision of first aid and immediate medical care to those injured in emergencies or sudden illnesses, to reduce the impact of injury, save lives, or ensure transport to a healthcare facility.
- Emergency service provider: A person licensed by law to provide emergency services.
- First responder: The first person to provide initial care in emergency cases, assess critical conditions requiring medical attention, and is specially trained to deliver emergency services outside healthcare facilities.
- Basic emergency supplies: Essential medical tools and equipment used to provide first aid and respond to emergencies, including first aid kits and automated external defibrillators (AEDs).

Policy principles
The national policy to enhance emergency safety in public spaces and workplaces is based on principles suited to Saudi Arabia's cultural, economic, and social context, including:
- Physical readiness: Public and private supervisory authorities must provide AEDs and emergency supplies in a collaborative and sufficient manner within a defined geographic area, covering all parts of the location and optimizing resources for economic efficiency.
- Training and qualification: Enhance training of staff in public spaces and workplaces in first aid and the use of emergency tools, and provide accredited education and training opportunities for employees, workers, and volunteers to equip them with necessary emergency skills.
- Activating the first responder: Enable first responders near the patient or injured person at the time of an incident to provide emergency care through appropriate training and qualification.
- Rapid emergency response: Provide timely emergency assistance to patients and injured individuals by delivering necessary first aid to limit the worsening of injuries or illnesses and initiate primary healthcare procedures.
- Sustainability: Ensure the continuity and development of emergency safety activities and delivery mechanisms to enhance readiness and community empowerment over the long term.

Policy objectives
The objectives of the national policy to enhance emergency safety in public spaces and workplaces include:
1- Increasing survival rates for sudden cardiac arrest in public spaces and workplaces.
2- Strengthening emergency safety infrastructure in public spaces by providing necessary supplies, education, training, and regulatory empowerment to help prevent or mitigate diseases and injuries.
3- Improving patient care outcomes by reducing complications from conditions that can be managed with first aid, through timely emergency service delivery.
4- Raising the quality of emergency services by qualifying personnel, developing training programs, and regulating licensing related to emergency safety.
5- Improving access to emergency services by ensuring their comprehensive and high-quality availability, tailored to the nature and environment of each public space.
6- Enhancing preparedness for emergencies and crises by providing trained and certified personnel in public spaces and workplaces.
7- Improving the emergency safety environment in Saudi Arabia to boost the Kingdom's ranking in relevant global reports and indices.
8- Strengthening community resilience and developing humanitarian and social services by improving volunteer work and community participation in emergency response for health incidents in public spaces.
9- Raising public awareness of first aid through training and education, helping to save lives in public spaces and workplaces.

Scope of application
Target group:
The national policy targets all visitors to public spaces, across all categories and environments. It establishes concepts for emergency response to common or life-threatening incidents, such as cardiac and respiratory arrest, drowning, bleeding, choking, burns, exposure to toxic substances, wounds, emergency childbirth, psychological crises, and other urgent health conditions.
The policy aims to increase the likelihood of a first responder being present near a patient or injured person in a public space and to ensure the availability of basic emergency supplies, including first aid kits and AEDs, by targeting specific proportions of staff in public spaces for regular training programs to develop the necessary skills, knowledge, and behaviors for first aid. It also seeks to increase the distribution of emergency supplies near gathering points in public spaces.
Groups particularly affected by this policy include:
- Patients or injured persons in public spaces.
- Workers in public spaces under government or private supervision.
- Security personnel.
- Field workers in service sectors.
- Business owners and operators of commercial and industrial establishments.
- Teachers and staff in educational institutions.
- Trainers and staff in sports and entertainment venues.
- Workers in the public transport sector, including hosts, pilots, and drivers.
- Regular road users.

Policy pillars
In defining the pillars of the national policy to enhance emergency safety in public spaces and workplaces, relevant international agreements and treaties were considered and adapted to the national context, ensuring alignment with global developments and addressing challenges in emergency services.
Given the importance of the issues addressed by this policy, it serves as a guiding tool for stakeholders, identifying key emergency service priorities and providing a structured framework to enhance emergency safety in public spaces and workplaces. The policy is based on five main pillars:
- First: Safety in public spaces
- Second: Emergency response
- Third: Empowering the community to withstand individual emergencies
- Fourth: Managing out-of-hospital cardiac and respiratory arrest
- Fifth: Emergency response responsibilities

First pillar: Safety in public spaces
Enhancing safety in public spaces is a direct responsibility of public and private supervisory authorities, reflecting the Kingdom's commitment to protecting human health and safety. The national policy encourages these authorities to fulfill their responsibilities by providing emergency safety requirements in public spaces, tailored to the nature of activities held there. This includes supplying necessary emergency equipment and supplies, and training a proportion of staff in first aid and first responder skills to ensure immediate handling of medical emergencies or injuries within the public space.
The policy also urges authorities to adopt preventive and precautionary measures to reduce the risks of diseases and injuries expected in public spaces, thereby enhancing public safety and reducing the need for advanced medical interventions.
AEDs are highlighted as essential emergency tools in public spaces due to their critical role in treating sudden cardiac arrest caused by heart rhythm disorders. Their availability and accessibility in a timely manner increase the chances of saving lives. Accordingly, the policy encourages the widespread placement of AEDs in high-density public areas and facilitates access to them within suitable geographic ranges to support early emergency intervention.
The policy emphasizes the importance of prioritizing the availability of