Following the fire incident in a government hospital in Sahiwal, the Civil Defence department in Rawalpindi has made modern fire extinguishers mandatory in all three allied hospitals, at metro bus stations metro and in metro buses. A practical training programme has also been approved to educate citizens living in the vicinities of government forests in three hill tehsils of the Rawalpindi district in response to the increasing incidence of forest fires.
Director of Civil Defence Punjab Barkullah Khan will visit Rawalpindi on June 24 to oversee the implementation of these decisions.
Terming the recent fire incident at a Sahiwal hospital extremely alarming, Civil Defence District Officer Talib Hussain said that a zero-tolerance policy would be enforced to ensure the installation of fire extinguishers in all wards of Rawalpindi's three major hospitals: Holy Family Hospital (HFH), Benazir Bhutto General Hospital (BBGH), and District Headquarters Hospital (DHQ).
Emergency services, the Outpatient Department (OPD), labour wards, and children's wards would be prioritised, he said, adding that Civil Defence officials would impart practical training to nurses, paramedical staff, and class IV employees of these wards on firefighting and emergency response procedures.
Hussian further said that the installation of fire extinguishers had been made mandatory at all metro bus stations from Saddar to Secretariat, adding all metro buses, which transport over 100 passengers including female and child commuters, would be equipped with fire extinguishers and emergency exit doors.
The Civil Defence officer said that their Director would conduct thorough inspections of government hospital wards, meet with Medical Superintendents and visit metro bus stations to discuss the installation of fire extinguishers during a week-long visit.
“Hospitals and metro bus stations, which fail to install fire extinguishers within a two-week deadline, will face legal action and those responsible for negligence will be booked in cases and also face punishments,” Hussian warned.
He further said that the Director of Civil Defence Punjab would meet with citizens in Murree, Kotli Sattian, and Kahuta forests and their surrounding settlements to facilitate the training programme involving firefighting.
Furthermore, approval has been granted to establish a civil defence post in each union council of Rawalpindi city.
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