CDAA granted financial and administrative autonomy

Muscat: The Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority (CDAA) will now function as an independent entity once its board of directors approves the new decision and regulations issued by the chairman for the implementation of the new system. 

Article (1) of the Royal Decree stated that the text of Article (1) of Royal Decree 3/2013 - on the establishment of the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority—shall be replaced with the following text: “An authority to be named 'Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority' shall be established and shall be accorded legal personality and financial and administrative autonomy.”

Royal Decree 03/2013

As per Royal Decree 3/2013, an authority named the 'Public Authority for Civil Defence and Ambulance (PACDA)' is hereby established. It enjoys legal personality, has financial and administrative independence, and is subordinate to the Royal Oman Police.

Royal Decree 31/2026

It added that the amendments attached to this decree shall be applied to the System of the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority promulgated by Royal Decree No 68/2014.

The Chairman of the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority shall issue the regulations and decisions necessary for the implementation of the System of the Civil Defence and Ambulance Authority—after the approval of the board of directors of this Authority—within a period of not more than 6 months from the date of enforcement of this Decree. Till such time, the existing regulations and decisions shall continue to be enforced without prejudice to the provisions of this decree.

 It cancels Article 2 of the aforementioned Royal Decree 68/2014 and all that contradicts this decree or the attached amendments or contravenes their provisions.

Royal Decree 68/2014

Humble origins

In the early 1970s, up until April 1, 1972, Muscat had only one Land Rover fire truck, operated by two municipal employees.
The security sector was not immune to the modern changes and significant achievements of the Blessed Renaissance.
Royal orders were issued instructing the then police chief to expedite the fulfillment of responsibilities and burdens related to combating fires occurring in the Sultanate.

The police began to take the initiative in assuming their responsibilities in this field, so they formed a special unit for this purpose under the name of (the Fire Unit), and attached to it 28  individuals in June 1972.
The headquarters of this unit was at the beginning of its formation in the Al-Tuwayan area in the state of Muscat, and this unit was provided with two light firefighting vehicles of the Land Rover type. This period coincided with the start of air traffic from Bait Al-Falaj Airport to the erstwhile Seeb International Airport.
With this change, the firefighting groups assigned to the airport, which were supervised by the airport directorate, also moved, and at that time, the police fire unit moved to Beit Al-Falaj Airport.

With the steady development in various fields, tasks and responsibilities expanded, and the Civil Defense needed to keep pace with this development by providing equipment, developing services, and establishing centers in various states of the Sultanate. Foreign expertise was sought to benefit from it, officers were enrolled in specialized courses, attention was paid to training and increasing the number of human resources, in addition to attention to the awareness aspect, the issuance of legislation and regulations, and joining the International Civil Defence Organisation.

Ambulance Services

The need for an advanced ambulance system in the Sultanate has become apparent in response to the population and urban growth.
This growth has been accompanied by an increase in risks and injuries, particularly road accident injuries, which have caused and continue to cause injuries and deaths annually, not to mention the need for emergency medical care for critical medical cases and emergencies.

In 1998, the Royal Oman Police (ROP) was tasked with establishing modern ambulance services in the Sultanate, in accordance with best practices implemented in developed countries, to provide high-quality emergency medical services that meet the Sultanate's needs and gradually form a comprehensive national ambulance system.

The initial phase of this system was to focus on providing emergency medical care for road accident injuries.
To achieve this goal, a US-based consultancy was engaged to develop the project framework and assess its actual needs.
An agreement was also reached to send a team of Omani medical professionals, including doctors and nurses, to specialize in emergency medical services.

It was decided that an advanced diploma program in emergency medical technologies would be implemented in the Sultanate, with the aforementioned team training and qualifying selected Omani personnel according to a timeline for the system's practical application.
In 2003, the Inspector General issued a decree establishing an ambulance unit to provide emergency medical services to those injured at accident sites using sound scientific methods.