NCOC briefs emergency responders on its resource management system

Urges use of app to check resource-availability in nearest hospital

For the first time since the contagion hit Pakistan in February, the National Coordination and Operation Centre (NCOC) held a meeting with emergency responders in different provinces.

A video conference was held by the NCOC with Ramzan Chippa, of Chippa Ambulances, Ahmad Edhi representing the Edhi Foundation, Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) Health DG Dr Hassan Orooj, the DG of the 1122 helpline in Punjab Dr Rizwan, and representatives from Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan and Azad Jammu and Kashmir, read a statement issued on Sunday.

The participants briefed the NCOC on their existing mechanism to provide emergency services to the public, while the latter apprised on the Resource Management System (RMS) through which 1,579 hospitals are linked - it directs the user as to which care facility has what resources available, such as beds, ventilators etc.

According to NCOC, as of now, the data of 804 hospitals out of 1,597 is visible on the RMS system.

Participants were also informed about the Pak Neghebaan App which was launched on Friday. They were apprised that 1,110 hospitals have been linked on the application and the emergency responders can rely on it to find out which health care facility nearest to them has resources available.

Officials of the NCOC urged the emergency responders to use the application and asked the National Information Technology Board (NITB) to share the link for the application with the responders.

According to the NCOC, this coordination will help emergency responders in facilitating the general public.