Rescue 1122 has saved 5 million lives

DG says the service has introduced some key public service initiatives

LAHORE: Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) has saved over five million people in more than four million operations since its inception in October, 2004.

Its average response time has been less than seven minutes, while standards were maintained in all districts of Punjab. This was shared by Rescue 1122 Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer who reviewed the performance of the service on Monday.



He said the inclusion of the patient transfer service was yet another public-friendly initiative to provide free of cost emergency facilities. It allows the shift of critical patients to specialised healthcare hospitals in all districts. The DG said the service also assisted Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Gilgit-Baltistan, Balochistan as well as Azad Jammu and Kashmir.



The service helped establish ambulance, rescue and fire emergency services in these areas, besides imparting free of cost professional management training to officials.



Dr Naseer asserted that Rescue 1122 faced several challenges during this period and yet it managed to establish an effective system of emergency care and a modern fire service. In addition, water, rescue, disaster response and animal rescue teams had also been formed. He said Rescue 1122 had provided services without discrimination and created a sense of safety and security in society.

Dr Naseer said rescuers would maintain the same standards of service in Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, AJK, Balochistan and Karachi to earn the respect and blessings of the public by maintaining a courteous and professional approach. “Although an international standard emergency service is available for victims, the increase in road accidents and fire incidents necessitates the need to strive towards preventive measures against such emergencies,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2017.