Rescue 1122 commemorates the National Disaster Awareness Day

Lahore: The Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) commemorated the National Disaster Awareness Day in all Districts of Punjab in remembrance of the martyred of catastrophic earthquake disaster on 8^th October, 2005 in northern areas of Pakistan. In this regard, the Director General, Punjab Emergency Service (Rescue 1122) Brig. (r) Dr. Arshad Zia flanked by DD (HR) Dr. Foozad Shahzad Mirza, District Emergency Officer, Lahore Dr. Ahmed Raza, Head of Operations, Punjab Mr. Ayyaz Aslam and other senior officers participated in an awareness walk organized by Provincial Disaster Management Authority, Rescue 1122, City District Government, Lahore and other stakeholders from Nasir Bagh to Town Hall, Lahore.

The Director General, Brig. Dr. Arshad Zia said that after learning lessons from the past tragedies and on special directions of the Chief Minister, Punjab Muhammad Shahbaz Sharif, Rescue 1122 is establishing Special Urban Search & Rescue Teams at Divisional Level of the Province. He also expressed his sorrow and grief over sad demises of those, who lost their lives in catastrophic earthquake of 2005, adding such incidents also provide us opportunity of capacity building; therefore, we should focus on developing our systems to prevent future disasters.

Brig. Dr. Arshad Zia said that after establishing an integrated emergency services infrastructure essential for saving lives & providing citizens with the right to timely disaster response and care without discrimination, Rescue 1122 is now working for changing minds of the public to establish socially responsible, healthy, safer and more resilient communities.

In this regard, Rescue 1122 is establishing Community Emergency Response Teams at every union council level in all Districts. After enrollment, these volunteers are trained for Community Action for Disaster Response (CADRE) and Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR). Thus, Rescue 1122 is working closely with the communities to enhance disaster response capacity, risk reduction and prevention of emergencies, for the establishment of safer communities in all Districts of Punjab.

The DG Rescue Punjab Dr. Arshad Zia further said that recently Rescue 1122 has managed a huge disaster of floods of 2015 in Punjab as the boats; divers, flood search and rescue teams evacuated some 97,613 flood-hit people trapped on rooftops of mud & cemented houses; trees, dykes and other areas. “It was a big disaster, but due to coordinated & timely level of preparedness, Emergency Services did best and earned appreciation by the public,” he said, adding although Rescue 1122 has rescued over 3.6 millions victims of emergencies but public awareness and community participation is essential to prevent emergencies and for becoming a disaster resilient nation.