Rescue 1122 responds to 1,073 emergencies during Eidul Azha

Service carried out 521 medical emergencies in cases of RTCs, fire accidents, drowning and building collapse

FAISALABAD: Faisalabad Rescue received a total of 18,606 calls during the three days of Eidul Azha of which only 1,073 calls were relevant to emergencies.

Rescue teams were on alert on the eve of Eidul Azha to tackle any untoward situation and special deployment was arranged for emergencies. In response to emergency calls, rescue attended as many as 1,117 victims who were helped out for treatment.

Reportedly, emergency teams carried out 521 medical emergencies which included cases of traffic accidents, fire accidents, drowning, building collapse incidents, domestic violence and miscellaneous operations conducted on the eve of Eidul Azha.

A huge number of bogus calls, around 17,500 calls, engaged the telephone lines and staff unnecessarily. In most of the bogus calls, people inquired general information while other calls were acts of mockery and irrelevant conversations.

Police devise Eidul Azha, Independence Day plan

A Rescue official told The Express Tribune that citizens often misuse the helpline since it is a free-call service and a number popularly used in big cities. ”Due to the option of free calls, people misuse the facility to make fool rescuers by faking emergencies, but no emergency is found when the team reaches the spot.”

A Rescue phone operator said that a single call usually take three to four minutes, that too for inquiries, due to which many hours are wasted every day.

Rescue Spokesperson Faisal Anwar said that receiving bogus calls has become a routine matter. “The toll increases during days of celebrations. We have spread awareness through social media to advise citizens to avoid making such calls.”

He added that the administration is planning to take serious police action against fake callers.

Control Room In-charge Shabeer Hussain said that Rescue is a public service which people should respect and make use of accordingly. “By making wrong calls, needy people in times of emergency may be deprived of life-saving services due to prank calls.”

He added that the misuse of a public facility also leads to wastage of resources.

Accidents in Punjab

The Punjab Emergency Service rescued 16,266 victims of different emergencies while responding to 15,590 emergencies in all 36 districts of the province during Eidul Azha.

The service rescued 4,346 victims and organised 158 events on Independence Day. Moreover, rescuers were also provided emergency cover in Kashmir solidarity rallies across Punjab.

Punjab Rescue Director General Dr Rizwan Naseer, while presiding over a meeting at Emergency Services Headquarters, expressed his concern over the increasing number of road traffic crashes (RTCs) during Eidul Azha holidays. “A total of 5,885 RTC occurred and 7,018 people were injured and 38 precious lives were lost in all districts of the province.”

Strict security planned for Eidul Azha

He added that Rescue service is available round-the-clock to provide emergency services to all citizens without any discrimination but it is high time to take preventive measures to reduce RTC as nothing is more important than human life.

Earlier, Deputy Director Operations Ayaz Aslam briefed the DG that emergency plans for Eidul Azha were implemented in close coordination with the deputy commissioners of all districts. The DG was further briefed that over 12,000 rescuers performed their duties at 650 key points established across Punjab and 700 motorbike ambulances performed emergency duties in strategic points. In this regard, 1,057 emergency ambulances and fire and rescue vehicles were deployed in all major Eidul Azha prayer sites and sensitive areas along with trained emergency staff to provide immediate pre-hospital emergency cover in all districts.

The deputy director added that higher number of emergencies occurred in Lahore, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala and Bahawalpur during Eid. The Lahore emergency service responded to 2,105 emergencies including 1,144 RTCs. Faisalabad Rescue responded to 1,425 emergencies including 533 RTCs while the Multan service dealt with 931 emergencies including 466 RTCs. Gujranwala service responded to 842 emergencies with 364 RTCs and Bahawalpur dealt with 688 emergencies including 185 RTCs during the Eid holidays.

He further briefed that the Provincial Monitoring Cell was on high alert round-the-clock during Eid holidays and data received from all districts showed that the Emergency Ambulance, Rescue and Fire Services responded to 15,590 emergencies including 5,885 emergencies of RTCs, 7,427 medical emergencies, 413 crime incidents, 97 fire incidents, 38 drowning and 1,438 other emergencies including delivery cases, falling from height, electric shock incidents and occupational injuries.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2019.