Emergency service performance reviewed

LAHORE
Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) Director Brig. (r) Dr Arshad Zia presided over a meeting of Rescue officers at Rescue 1122 Headquarters and reviewed performance of emergency operations in all 36 districts of Punjab to ensure uniform standard of the Service and smooth emergency services delivery without any discrimination.
The emergency data showed that 55,487 victims of different emergencies were rescued by Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) while conducting 52,853 rescue operations in September all over the Punjab, with average response time of seven minutes. The meeting was attended by Registrar/PMO Dr. Farhan Khalid, Deputy Director (HR) Dr. Fawad Shahzad Mirza, DD (P&D) Faheem Qureshi, DD (Finance) Naeem Mukhtar, Head of (Operations) Ayyaz Aslam and other senior officers.
The emergency calls to which Rescue 1122 responded to include: 20,268 road traffic accidents, 23,785 medical emergencies, 785 fire incidents, 1,945 crimes, 105 drowning incidents, 86 building collapses, 12 explosions and 5,867 miscellaneous operations. According to the statistics, out of total fire incidents, 225 fire incidents took place in Lahore, 91 in Faisalabad, 70 in Rawalpindi, 51 in Multan, 30 in Sialkot and 29 in Sargodha. Similarly, out of total traffic accidents, some 3,941 traffic accidents were reported in Lahore, 2,004 in Faisalabad, 1,310 in Gujranwala, and 1,198 in Multan and 872 in Rawalpindi.
The Punjab Emergency Service Director said that there was dire need of effective enforcement and implementation of fire safety codes given in building-by-laws. He said main steps including external steel staircases, fire doors; pressurised external hydrants system, evacuation plan and emergency lighting system, installation of fire extinguishers, clear access and removal of obstructions from rooftops can ensure life safety in high rise buildings. He said that fire safety ensures life safety; therefore, the citizens should step forward and ensure active participation in fire prevention. He directed the District Emergency Officers (DEOs) to enhance activities pertaining to creating awareness among community members regarding emergencies. He said that in order to focus on promoting safety, Rescue 1122 has adopted community centre approach for disaster management through community involvement in hazards identification, vulnerability and capacity assessment and risk reduction measures with community collaboration.