PESD rescued 109,566 victims last month

LAHORE: The Punjab Emergency Service Department (PESD) Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer said that PESD rescued 109,566 victims while responding to 113,911 emergencies with an average response time of seven minutes across Punjab during month of November 2021.

He said that out of 113,911 emergencies, Rescue Service responded 33,474 were road traffic accidents, 65,723 medical emergencies, 1,575 fire incidents, 2,675 crime incidents, 46 drowning incidents, 27 building collapses, 19 explosions and 10,372 miscellaneous operations in Punjab.

He was presiding over monthly review meeting held at PESD Headquarters here on Thursday, which was attended all heads of wings of Rescue Headquarters and Emergency Services Academy. At this occasion, the Head of Provincial Monitoring Cell briefed the PESD DG about monthly emergency statistics. He was informed that 420 people died in 33,474 road traffic accidents in Punjab during the last month. Out of these accidents, 8,311 occurred in Lahore, 2,550 in Multan, 2,499 in Faisalabad, 1,963 in Gujranwala, 1,292 in Rawalpindi and 1,225 in Bahawalpur. Similarly, 320 fire incidents took place in Lahore, 128 in Faisalabad, 108 in Rawalpindi, 73 in Multan, 69 in Gujranwala and 56 in RY Khan. After a detailed review of the emergency data, Dr Rizwan expressed his serious concern over 420 deaths of people in 33,474 accidents in a month. He requested the motorcyclists to adopt the road safety measures and reduce their speed limit up to 50km/h. They should follow rules and always drive in extreme left lane. He appealed to the parents that they should never allow their under-age children to drive. Dr Rizwan emphasised that behavioral change was required to promote safety and prevention from emergencies.