Citizens Advised To Properly Switch Off Gas Appliances At Night To Avoid Gas Explosions

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 4th Dec, 2022 ) :Rescue-1122 has advised the citizens to properly switch off gas appliances before going to bed to avoid risks of fire and casualties.

According to District Emergency Officer (DEO), Rescue-1122, Rawalpindi Eng. Kamran Rashid, the citizens before going to bed should ensure that the room heaters are properly switched off and the gas valve is closed to avoid leakages.

He said that people use gas heaters in airtight rooms during the winter season which might lead to death due to the absence of adequate fresh oxygen intake.

The DEO advised the citizens to adopt precautionary measures during winter to avoid gas explosions.

There was a need for launching an awareness campaign among the people about safety measures as every year in winter, there had been reports of casualties due to incidents of gas explosions caused by gas leakage from appliances, mostly from substandard portable gas heaters.

Several gas explosions were reported in different areas of the Rawalpindi district last winter, he added.

The people know little about how to detect gas leakage, what to do in case of fire and how to provide immediate medical assistance to the burn victims before shifting them to a hospital.

'If there is smell of gas inside your room or shop, then don't smoke or strike a match, don't turn on a light, don't operate any electrical appliance, don't use a flashlight or lighter and leave the place immediately.

The people should turn off the main gas valve, if possible, leave the doors open, and call the gas or Rescue personnel.' According to a Rescue-1122 spokesman, the Punjab Emergency Service, Rescue-1122, Rawalpindi rescued 4,102 emergency victims while conducting emergency operations in November and maintained it average response time of less than 7 minutes.

He informed that out of total 4442 emergency calls received in the previous month, the Emergency Service dealt 1306 road traffic accidents, 80 fire calls, 01 building collapse incident, 110 crime incidents, three Cylinder Blasts, 439 special rescue operations, and 2503 medical emergencies.

The Emergency Service, Rescue-1122 provided swift responses particularly to fire calls and saved those emergencies from turning into big disaster.

The data of Command and Control Room Rawalpindi showed that the rescuers provided swift response and saved properties worth millions of rupees in fire incidents during the last month.

He informed that the DEO had requested the public to switch off all electrical and gas appliances before sleeping to avoid increased number of fire incidents.

He further said only timely calls could ensure a timely response from Emergency Service in case of any emergency or disaster.

/395