District Emergency Officers meet to review their performance

Lahore: The Director General Punjab Emergency Service Dr. Rizwan Naseer has asked the District Emergency Officers to prepare to launch the Community Emergency Response Teams in all Tehsils of Punjab from January 2015. He said the Service shall mark the year 2015 as the year of Safety through prevention of emergencies particularly Road Traffic Accidents, Fire Emergencies and Occupational accidents. He said this during the conference of District Emergency Officers organized here at Rescue 1122 Headquarters, Ferozepur Road, Lahore.

The Emergency Data was analyzed during the conference which revealed that Road Traffic Crashes has become leading cause of deaths and disabilities amongst young breadwinners and fire emergencies are also causing significant loss of life and properties. He said that emergency services world over are  focusing on emergency prevention along with emergency response. Therefore,  our Service is also undertaking evidence based research on the number & nature of emergencies to recommend measures for prevention. This information is then presented before the District Emergency Boards on monthly basis by DEOS who are also the secretary of these board. The District Coordination Officer is its chairman while all concerned District Officers are its members.

Dr. Rizwan Naseer informed DEOs that the Service has managed over 0.9 million traffic crashes and 59,656 fire emergencies since 2014. He said that emergencies are on the rise so preventive measures are highly important through effective community participation. In this regard community emergency response teams shall be established at Tehsil level for prevention of emergencies and community based disaster risk reduction.

He also stressed that besides new intervention for community safety it is greatly important to maintain standards of emergency services provided by the Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) in all 36 Districts. District Emergency Officers were asked to ensure effective Incident Command Management for best utilization of all available resources in the District and efficient management of major emergencies. The procedures for timely & accurate reporting and initial rapid assessment during disasters as per UN OCHA guidelines were also discussed during the conference.