LAHORE: The members of pioneer batch of Rescue 1122 gathered here at Emergency Services Headquarters, to commemorate the completion of 18 years of service. The members recalled the memories and the moments they passed in establishing a Lifesaving Service, which has rescued over 10.7 million emergency victims through its Emergency Ambulance & saved losses worth over Rs. 565 billion while responding to over 189,000 fire incidents through professional fire fighting in all Districts of Punjab.

In this regard, a ceremony was organized at Emergency Services Headquarters and was chaired by DG Punjab Emergency Service Department (PESD) Dr Rizwan Naseer; and participated by pioneer officers including DD (HR) Dr Foaad Shahzad Mirza, REO Rawalpindi Dr Abdur Rehman and others.

While recalling the moments and collective efforts for establishing a Model Emergency Management System in Pakistan, DG PESD Dr Rizwan Naseer congratulated the rescuers of the pioneer batch and said, “I along with around pioneer rescuers were worried about their training when the Commandant Elite Police provided the training ground of Elite Police at Bedian”.

He said that we started from zero and established a modern training institute in Lahore, a Model among the SAARC countries. As many as 22,000 emergency personnel across Pakistan have been provided training including 14,000 personnel from Punjab. Today, the Pakistan Rescue Team of Emergency Services Academy (Rescue 1122) Lahore has gained another honour being the First United Nations-INSARAG Classified team in South Asia”.

In early days, he said at a moment someone asked me to stop this training but I did never lose heart and continued it with my rescuers. He said he was glad to see those who joined the Service as EMTs or Station Coordinators are today working as Officers. He said now it was their responsibility to ensure the standards for the Service. He asked the District Emergency Officers to ensure their physical fitness and enhance their capacities and performance, adding rescue officers should be role models for their subordinates.

Earlier, Dr Foaad said they would have failed if we did not enjoy the leadership of Dr Rizwan Naseer. He said that in the early days, they faced many problems, but they had a mission to provide a sense of safety to our countrymen. Other rescuers of the pioneer batch also spoke on this occasion.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022