232 people died in 86,180 incidents in February

Rescue 1122 report reveals road traffic crashes leading cause of death

LAHORE:  

The monthly report of Rescue 1122 showed that 232 people died in 86,180 emergencies in the province during February. The emergency service maintained an average response time of seven minutes while responding to the emergencies. At least 24,170 road traffic crashes were reported in the province in February.

Punjab Emergency Service Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer expressed his concern over the increasing trend of road traffic crashes as a leading cause of death while presiding over the monthly performance review meeting of all emergency operations in the province. “Road traffic crashes can be significantly reduced by effectively enforcing traffic laws and by taking appropriate road safety measures,” he said.

Millions of deaths can be prevented by implementing road safety measures, he added. He directed rescue officials to ensure their physical fitness and to maintain cleanliness at all emergency vehicles and rescue stations.

The director general maintained that the service is responding to over 850 road traffic crashes which injure approximately 972 people in the province on a daily basis. He pointed out that 50% of all accidents can be prevented by adopting safety measures such as driving motorcycles in the lane on the extreme left, wearing safety helmets with proper straps, keeping your speed less than 50km/h and properly using side mirrors.

He urged citizens and stakeholders to join hands with Rescue 1122 to reduce road traffic crashes in the province. He also urged parents to play their part by forbidding underage children from driving cars and motorcycles.

During the month of February, Rescue 1122 responded to 24,170 road traffic accidents, 51,326 medical emergencies, 931 fires, 1,712 crimes, 39 drowning incidents, 73 building collapses, 14 explosions and 7,915 other emergencies.

Majority of the incidents occurred in major cities including 211 fires in Lahore, 89 in Faisalabad, 68 in Rawalpindi, 57 in Gujranwala, 66 in Multan, 22 in Sialkot, 34 in Sargodha, and 16 in Dera Ghazi Khan. Similarly, 5,762 traffic accidents were reported in Lahore, 2,219 in Faisalabad, 1,848 in Multan, 1,343 in Gujranwala, 900 in Bahawalpur, 697 in Rawalpindi and 733 in Sahiwal.