DUBAI: Four women in pink remain on standby 12 hours a day, seven days a week, to come to the aid of their “sisters” in the Gulf emirate of Dubai. The four — two medics and two drivers — are leading a pilot project for a women-only pink ambulance service that aims to expedite medical care by helping patients feel more at ease.

“In our society, Arab Muslim society, when patients call for help, they want privacy and they want to feel comfortable,” said Bashayer al-Rimm, an emergency medical technician (EMT). “A male first responder can and of course does respond to all patients,” she said. “But the logic behind this was, ‘How can we make women feel more comfortable?’, to speed up giving them medical care.”

The government-run Women Responders unit operating in the district of Deira has had 25 callouts since it launched three weeks ago, none of them major emergencies.

Ten years ago, Dubai launched “Ladies and Families Taxis,” a pink fleet of cabs driven by women and serving women and their children. The service is still available, and popular, across Dubai.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2017