731,107 Victims Rescued In 2016: Rescue 1122

LAHORE, Jan 2 (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 02nd Jan, 2017 ) : The Rescue 1122 rescued 731,107 victims through 671,686 operations in Punjab during 2016 besides maintaining its average response time of seven minutes.

Presiding over a meeting at Rescue 1122 Headquarters on Monday, Punjab DG Dr Rizwan Naseer reviewed performance of PES during 2016 and announced that Rescue 1122 would mark 2017 as year of safety.

He said several programmes for prevention of emergencies would be launched, including school Safety Program, Rescue Mohafiz Program through establishment of Community Emergency Response teams in all union councils of Punjab in 2017.

These teams would be trained for Disaster Response and Community Based Risk Reduction for prevention of emergencies, he added. The Provincial Monitoring Cell (PMC) briefed the meeting that 238,785 accidents occured in the province during 2016 whereas 227,390 accidents were reported in 2015 with an increase of 2.44 per cent.

Similarly, 14,033 fire incidents were reported in Punjab in 2016 while some 11,565 cases of fires were reported in 2015 with an increase of 9.

64 per cent. The Rescue 1122 managed 327,843 medical emergencies in 2016 whereas the service responded to 295,323 medical cases in 2015 with an increase of 5.21 per cent.

Also, the Punjab Emergency Service responded to 21,182 calls related to crime in 2016 as compared to 21,747 in 2015 with an increase of 565 cases. A total 154 explosions were reported in 2016 in Punjab as compared to 173 cases during 2015.

Rescue 1122 also responded to 1,097 cases of drowning, 567 building collapses and 68,025 miscellaneous incidents. The DG said during the last 12 years, Rescue 1122 has emerged as a successful model of emergency services delivery.

He said as per direction of Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif the Motorbike Ambulance Service was being established in nine divisions of the province to ensure prompt response to emergencies even during rush hours and congested areas.