Rescue 1122 mobilised 537,712 community members last year: DG

4,048 community emergency response teams were also established at union council level

LAHORE:  

The Punjab emergency service mobilised 537,712 community members and established 4,048 community emergency response teams at a union council level during the previous year, said Rescue 1122 Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer.

He expressed these views while presiding over the annual performance review meeting at the Rescue Headquarters on Tuesday. The meeting was attended by senior officers.

The director general said that the purpose of a detailed review is to observe the performance of the community safety programme, the need to train the community as identified by district emergency officers and to finalise the way forward in raising one million volunteers to establish healthy, safe and resilient communities in Pakistan.

During the meeting, Community Safety and Information Deeba Shahnaz stated that 2018 remained to be the year for community mobilisation as over 0.5 million individuals at educational institutes, government organisations and in union councils were briefed.

Around 4,048 community emergency response teams (CERT) were constituted and trained to respond in the case of a major disaster. Each CERT established at a union council level consists of at least 12 members and each member is enrolled and trained as a scout, she said.

She also highlighted the different initiatives taken by the districts; Chiniot established over 65 community rescue centres with community participation whereas Layyah, Lahore and Sheikhupura showed extra ordinary performance in the national CERTs Recue Challenge 2018.

Out of the total 537,712 community members, 325,587 have been sensitised in 2,779 awareness activities, 178,928 have been given training on basic life support and fire safety in 2,006 sessions and 33,197 rescue scouts have been trained at a union council level to promote healthy, safe and resilient communities.

The Rescue 1122 director general appreciated the efforts of officials in implementing the programme. He directed all district emergency officers to ensure community safety activities in line with the service’s vision for 2019.