Manama: More than 81,000 people involved in accidents in Saudi Arabia last year refused to be treated by medical teams, prompting calls by doctors to boost awareness campaigns.
Dr Mahmoud Khoja, adviser to the Health Ministry, said a high number of people who refused medical treatment were not aware that some of the injuries are not obvious immediately after the accident, including internal bleeding, concussion, specific fractures and ligament.
Patients need to be under medical surveillance for 24 hours at specialised hospitals, he said, Saudi daily Al Riyadh reported on Monday.
Releasing its figures for last year, the Saudi Red Crescent said its teams dealt with more than 439,000 cases, up by seven per cent over the previous year when they had 406,000 cases.
“As worrying is the increase in the number of people who refuse to be treated at the accident sites or immediately afterwards,” the report said. “We had 70,200 refusal cases two years ago, and the figure jumped to 81,255 last year, an increase of 13 per cent.
Red Crescent officials said there was nothing the medical teams could do if people refused to be treated.
“However, the teams make sure they have a document signed by whoever rejects the treatment. We are not pleased with such situations and we urge all Saudi nationals and foreigners living in Saudi Arabia to cooperate fully with the medical and paramedical teams and not to refuse to be checked or treated.”
Those who refuse to be treated are usually unaware of the danger of internal injuries, they added.
