A number of students from the College of Medicine and Medical Sciences (CMMS) at the Arabian Gulf University (AGU) have participated in providing medical services and first aid to pilgrims in Mecca as part of the volunteer health team dedicated to serving pilgrims during this year’s Hajj season.

The students were part of the Hajj Voluntary Health Programme affiliated with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Hajj and Umrah in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Saudi Academy for Health Volunteering, Dirham Weqaya Association, and other volunteer teams.

Mr Mazen Al Zahrani, a student at the CMMS, described the experience as exceptional, saying that the volunteer medical students competed to provide first aid services and participated in treating emergency cases until ambulance arrived.

He added: "The experience is exceptional and rich by all standards. We learned how to organise crowds, deal with a large number of infections, speed up work, and sort out diseases. We helped cases that needed cardiac resuscitation, cardiac arrest, head injuries, foot injuries, hypoglycemia, high and low blood pressure for pilgrims from various countries."

"We feel proud in serving the guests of Allah and representing our university, the Arabian Gulf University, in the holiest parts of the earth. It is estimated that there were over two million pilgrims this year," he concluded.

In the same context, several members of the academic staff at the CMMS expressed their pride in the distinguished humanitarian and medical efforts provided by student volunteers, stressing that this rich experience adds a lot to the medical practice of future doctors.

In addition to Mr Al Zahrani, the teams included Mr Abdulhameed Hussain Al Awaji, Mr Saad Khaled Al Saleh, Ms Ruba Ahmed Al Hazmi, Ms Renad Ahmed Al Hazmi, Ms Youmna Khaled Al Ahmad, Ms La’alea Mahmoud Hafez, Mr Turki Al Yami, and Mr Abdul Al Anzi.

It is worth noting that medical students from AGU from various years of study are among 5,466 health and first aid volunteers this year who worked hard to provide health, first aid, and awareness services to pilgrims through more than 150 volunteer opportunities across 16 locations.