The air ambulance aircraft of Abu Dhabi Police Air Wing Department managed to rescue four citizens in their 20s, who got stranded in the desert area between Nahel and Al Ain International Airport.
The Air Wing Operations Room had received notification from the Central Operations Room at 9.10am, reporting that an FJ Cruiser car is stuck in the sand, with four people on board, two of them suffering from extreme heat-related exhaustion.
The car got stuck in the desert sand at 6 a.m. and its passengers failed to free it. They called their friends for help, but they were unable to determine their location. They finally called the Operations Room after feeling very tired and running out of water.
The Air Wing Department aircraft had a difficult time locating the stranded citizens, due to the poor cell phone reception in that area. Upon collecting the initial information from the Operations Room, the search and rescue aircraft took off with a medical crew on board. During the search operation, there were several unsuccessful attempts to contact the stranded citizens and determine their coordinates.
Finally, after a vigorous 30-minute search, the air ambulance managed to locate the car. The medical team examined the four stranded citizens, two of whom were found suffering extreme thirst and exhaustion. After receiving the necessary first aid, the rescued citizens were airlifted and delivered to the ground medical team.
Staff Brig. Pilot Ali Mohammed Al Mazrouei, Head of the Air Wing Department called on people wishing to make inland excursions, to keep emergency and police operations room’ phone numbers handy; call the Operations Room without delay in the event of any emergency; and use the navigation devices to help the search and rescue aircraft locate them expeditiously, especially with high temperature in summer.
The four young citizens expressed their thanks to both the Abu Dhabi Police Air Wing Department and the Operations Room for their efforts to rescue them.