Arrangements for major emergencies reviewed

LAHORE : Punjab Emergency Service Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer chaired a video link meeting of the district emergency officers (DEOs) at Emergency Services Headquarters to review the operational arrangements for major emergencies in all districts of the province.

The Rescue 1122 DG discussed in detail the standard operating procedures for Incident Command Management System and Fire and Rescue Protocols for major emergencies. He directed all the DEOs to ensure that all managerial tier of emergency response from incident commander, all squad leaders and operational staff had gone through the SOPs of Incident Command Management System. He directed all the DEOs to ensure that first Incident Management Mock Exercise using all resources would be conducted within one week by each district at an appropriate site for implementation of Incident Command Management System.

The Rescue Punjab DG said that the exercise was also important to check major emergencies and flood preparedness status at the district level. He said all the DEOs were responsible to maintain uniform standards of the Emergency Service all across the province. He said the rescuers should deal the corona emergencies as per the guidelines issued by the Rescue Headquarters. All staff must wear mask and keep social distance to reduce the spread of coronavirus. The Rescue Punjab DG directed the officers to keep operational all the boat engines and ensure rescuers were prepared for flood management and all tools and equipment should be properly checked. Dr Rizwan emphasised on ensuring smooth service delivery without any discrimination in all district of Punjab. The DEOs should start grading of the rescue stations, vehicles and staff, and acknowledge the best performing rescue station and staff on a monthly basis.

All the DEOs must ensure smooth and timely emergency response and maintain standards as same resources have been provided to all districts according to the sizes of the cities so there should be no compromise on service standards, he said.