Punjab Ambulance and Emergency Service, 'Rescue-1122' project, will be extended to other cities of Punjab, as it proved very helpful in providing instant relief and medical facilities to the masses in urgency.
Punjab Chief Minister Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi stated this while chairing a meeting to review extension plan of the Rescue-1122 service at the CM House on Sunday.
He said this effective service would be initiated in Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Murree, Multan, Bahawalpur, and DG Khan, while a model 'Rescue Fire' service would be launched in Lahore in October this year for which 250 rescue fire personnel have been given training.
He also said that an Emergency Service Academy has also been established at Lahore and it is training the crew. An Emergency Training Academy is being set up on 250 kanals of land, where rescue staff would be trained on modern lines, he added.
Chaudhry Pervaiz Elahi said that Rescue-1122 is formed as per international standards and has qualified staff as well as equipped with most modern medical facilities. The service is playing prominent role in provision of relief and medical aid to the victims of any mishap in the provincial capital and also reach the place of accident as early as seven minutes, he maintained.
Officers of the ambulance service are being trained at British institutions, and exchange of delegations of experts from both the countries also help improve performance of the Rescue-1122, he said.
The chief minister said that rescue staff has been given modern training before initiation of model rescue fire service in Lahore, while special fire engines/vehicles are being manufactured to effectively do away with any incident of fire outbreak in the city.
On this occasion, Director General Punjab Emergency Service, Dr Rizwan Naseer, gave briefing on the extension plan of the service.
Punjab Chief Secretary Salman Siddique, P&D Chairman Suleman Ghani, CBR Senior Member Safdar Javed Syed, Health Secretary Javed Malik, C&W Secretary Ahmed Yar, Local Governments Secretary Akhlaq Hussain Tarar, P&D Secretary Sohail Ahmed, Special Secretary Finance Azmat Ali Ranjha, Chief of Project Management Unit Khalid Khan and other high officials were also present.