Every year, Iraqis and non-Iraqis commemorate Imam Hussein’s (peace be upon him) fortieth memorial, and millions of visitors from both inside and outside Iraq go to the holy Karbala.

The Iraqi Red Crescent Society (IRCS) provides medical and emergency services to visitors on foot from other governorates through its teams who are stationed in Karbala and the governorates.

More than 2,000 members and volunteers formed emergency detachments, which were stationed at the governorate’s entrances and in the center.

Dr. Ali Majid, Director of the IRCS’s Health Department, states that the IRCS has more than 75 stationary and mobile ambulance detachments situated along the road heading to Karbala in all of the participating governorates, including 25 fixed detachments within the borders of Karbala on the visitor’s itinerary and more than 500 paramedics provide emergency services to the injured, also 100 paramedics participate through mobile detachments that provide ambulatory services to visitors while roaming to treat injuries and wounds they are exposed to, as well as stretcher campaign teams that organized by more than 100 paramedics to transport the injured through the narrow streets and alleys.

More than 50 doctors, as well as accompanying nursing personnel, give medical services to tourists in four mobile medical clinics carrying 14 tons of pharmaceuticals and medical and emergency supplies and containing an examination area, laboratory, and pharmacy.

The IRCsS has dispatched 25 ambulances to the governorate of Karbala, accompanied by professional paramedics. “The Iraqi Red Crescent has begun dispatching ambulances equipped with the most up-to-date technology essential to treat the injured, as well as skilled paramedics to transfer emergency cases and transfer them to hospitals,” says Dr. Ali Majid.

Aside from medical and ambulance services, specialized teams are sterilizing processions, modes of transportation, and visitor-heavy areas, as well as promoting health awareness through posters and awareness folders, and distributing personal protection supplies like masks and sterilization materials.

The IRCS has established missing persons centers by registering identification cards in the form of bracelets containing information and phone numbers of relatives, which are placed in the hands of visitors to guide them in the event of loss, as well as using communication devices (mobile phones) and loudspeakers to guide them to their families.
It’s worth noting that the branches of the IRCS in the central and southern governorates provided the same services, with more than 100 teams in each governorate.