March 16, 2007	Friday	Safar 26, 1428

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LAHORE, March 15: The stage is set to introduce the first-ever disaster management units initially in 11 major cities in Punjab by October this year. The units are being established by the Punjab Emergency Service after the successful operation of the Lahore-based model team of 50 rescuers that was put into action on the first anniversary of the October 2005 earthquake that jolted the nation out of slumber.

“Each team will comprise 10 rescuers trained specially in rescuing people affected by any calamity. They will also have specialised gadgets and vehicles for rapid operations,” said Punjab Emergency Service Director-General Dr Rizwan Naseer while talking to Dawn here on Thursday.

He said the need to have a specialised disaster rescue set-up was felt after the country failed to help tens of thousands of people in the quake-shattered cities.

The team was given seismic acoustic sensors, search cameras, specialised cutters and lifting bags that made way for the rescuers to enter the collapsed structures to take out the entrapped people. A bus was also given besides medical equipment and medicines to provide first aid.

The team was given specialised training to rescue the victims and sort out the injured to send only those to the hospitals who could survive.

“Since then the team has been providing valuable service to people in distress. It has played a vital role in saving lives in a number of incidents in Lahore,” Dr Rizwan said.

According to him, the PES was now preparing to introduce such system in Faisalabad, Multan, Bahawalpur, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Sahiwal, Rawalpindi, Sargodha, Gujranwala and Sialkot. A similar team would also be raised for Lahore. And the existing model team would give a back up for major incidents in Lahore and other cities. The system would ultimately be introduced all over the province.

Dr Rizwan said the teams would be housed in emergency rescue stations being built in these 11 cities. They would have a support of ambulance and fire-fighting services which were also being launched there.

Each team would have a specialised vehicle, lighting system, cutting and debris clearing tools to start searching for the entrapped people. The model team would be sent for their help in case of a major disaster. Each team would have medical cover and additional force from the locally available ambulance and fire fighting services.

Dr Rizwan said giving training to the officials and getting the required equipment was an uphill task for the PES because the whole concept was new to the country. As an immediate step, the PES had arranged for training of its six officers in England in search and urban search rescue operations. Now these master trainers were passing on the golden tips to the disaster management staff.

The equipment was imported from the US at a cost of Rs10 million. Dr Rizwan said the PES had recently signed an agreement with Strathclyde Rescue and Fire Services of the UK. Under the agreement, the UK experts would visit the country to give training to the PES staff which would also be sent to England for the same purpose.

He said those having associate engineering diplomas were being recruited for the disaster management service because of their basic knowledge in buildings.

Dr Rizwan said efforts were being made to locally prepare the required machinery and gadgets to save money and ensure sustainability of the much-needed system.