A 27-member delegation comprising faculty staff and under-training officers of the Armed Forces Post-graduate Medical Institute (AFPGMI), led by Major General Zaheer Akhtar, commandant AFPGMI, visited the Emergency Services Headquarters and Academy to have a better understanding of the working mechanism of Rescue Services.
They witnessed ongoing specialised training activities of Fire, Rescue, Medical, Deep Well Rescue, Burn House, Fire Fit Challenge, Height Rescue, Water Rescue, Swimming, Urban Search & Rescue, and physical fitness training. The delegates also visited the Medical, Fire, and Rescue Labs where they were briefed about the appropriate use of rescue equipment in rescue operations as well as its usage in the Emergency Services Academy for training purposes.
The delegation was briefed about the 24/7 working of the Provincial Monitoring Cell, established to ensure uniform standards of Service in all Districts of Punjab. In the Cell, they were informed about the monitoring system which included visual monitoring of control rooms, fleet management and tracking system, citizen feedback, and the overall emergency data.
Furthermore, the working mechanism of Patient Transfer Service, Motorbike Ambulance Service, and Lost Helpline 1192 was also briefed to them.
DG Punjab Emergency Service Department (PESD) Dr Rizwan Naseer briefed the delegation about Emergency Services Reforms in Pakistan and the reasons behind the success of the Punjab Emergency Service Department, which was started in the provincial capital Lahore as a pilot project with 14 Ambulances, 6 Rescue Stations, and 200 rescuers. He briefed that the Service has rescued over 10.5 million victims of emergencies and saved losses of over 552 billion rupees in over 179,649 fire incidents by timely emergency response and professional firefighting.
“Besides that, it is an honor for all of us that the Pakistan Rescue Team of Emergency Services Academy has become the first United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) Classified Team in South Asia. He also highlighted that Community Emergency Response Teams (CERTs) have been established in all Union Councils of Punjab for the management of emergencies and to promote safety. Furthermore, these CERTs along with Rescuers further trained over a million first aiders across Punjab.
On the behalf of delegation, student officer Lt-Col Shahzad Iqbal said: “I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the PESD for arranging the highly informative visit. Rescue 1122 has shown phenomenal growth in a very short span of time since its inception in 2004. It would not have been possible without the professional, enterprising leadership of the dynamic director-general Dr. Rizwan Naseer and his team.
