LAHORE : Deputy Minister of Health, Republic of Turkey, Prof Tolga Tolunay visited Punjab Emergency Services Headquarters and Academy on National Resilience Day to express solidarity with the citizens of Pakistan and particularly with families affected by earthquake disaster of 8th October 2005.
He said resilience building by Pakistan by establishing the Rescue 1122, integrated Emergency Ambulance, Rescue & Fire Services and Disaster & Community Emergency Response Teams, is highly commendable. In this regard becoming the first United Nations INSARAG Certified Search & Rescue Team in South Asia is very impressive, he said.
He expressed these views while speaking at the ceremony held to observe National Resilience Day 8th October 2022 at Emergency Services Academy here on Saturday. The Secretary of the Emergency Services Department, Dr Rizwan Naseer, Officers of Rescue Headquarters and Emergency Services Academy, Rescuers, instructors, cadets and media personnel attended the ceremony.
Addressing the ceremony, the deputy minister of health of Turkey observed one minute silence to show solidarity with earthquake affectees and said, “I am happy to know that Rescue 1122 has rescued over 11.5 million victims of emergencies and saved losses worth over Rs580 billion by improving response time and professional firefighting in 197,000 fire incidents.” He also witnessed the ongoing training of medical, fire, rescue, specialised rescue and training simulators of USAR and other facilities provided in the Academy. Earlier, DG Emergency Services Dr Rizwan Naseer thanked the Turkish delegation for visiting the Emergency Services Academy & Headquarters to commemorate National Resilience Day. He also thanked them for showing solidarity with the citizens of Pakistan and in particular the families of persons affected by the 2005 earthquake disaster in Pakistan. He informed them about the Rescue 1122 journey from inception to date including challenges on way to establishing an integrated model in Punjab. Maintaining a four-minute average response time in cities with motorbike rescue service is indeed an international achievement and Turkey remained part of this new initiative when it was launched in Pakistan, he added. “We as the Emergency Services Department look forward long time collaboration with the Republic of Turkey regarding the training of Emergency Medical Technicians and participation in joint emergency simulation exercises, sharing of the Information management system, and participating in Rescue & Volunteer Emergency Response Team Challenges,” he said. Dr Rizwan Naseer also took oath from the 9th Short Course of 163 rescue Drivers passed out from Emergency Services Academy. Dr Rizwan Naseer congratulated the Rescue Drivers on their successful completion of training. The best performing Rescuers have been presented appreciation shields. At the end, Secretary PESD presented shield to guest from Republic of Turkey.
