TAXILA: Rescue 1122 officials conducted a pre-flood preparedness exercise to review their response strategy and to further enhance the operational compatibility of teams for staying alert to cope with any possible flood and natural disaster.

The exercise was conducted at Shahdi Khal site at River Sindh in Attock on Tuesday. The officials of civil defence, traffic police, health, education, livestock department, rescue volunteers, police department and other related departments witnessed the exercise.

Teams performed exercises like provision of medical first aid, scuba diving, line search, swimming, diving, rescuing a drowning person and catching of snakes. Stalls were also established by civil defence, the health department, the livestock department and local welfare organisations.

The rescue personnel also demonstrated shifting of flood-affected people to safe places. Stalls were set up at the incident command post, where the deputy commissioner was briefed on the functionality and use of disaster response and medical equipment.

Ali Hussain, district emergency officer, Attock while briefing officials, said: “The purpose of conducting such exercises is to enhance coordination among departments and be prepared to handle any untoward situation.” He informed officials about the most vulnerable places to flooding in Attock district. He said that timely coordination and preparedness in case of flood could be helpful in saving precious human lives.

He made it clear that Rescue 1122 will be fully alert during the monsoon season to tackle a flood-like situation, adding that strong departmental coordination and swift response to any flood emergency could save precious lives. Speaking on this occasion, District Officer (Civil Defence) Aqeel Khattak said that with limited resources and self-help, the trained volunteers are ready to deal with any emergency situation with the best skills.

“Such exercises can help improve the capacity of departments who have to deal with emergency situations,” he added.

Assistant Commissioner Hazro Kamran Ashraf termed the performance of Rescue 1122 as impressive and said that the purpose of such exercises was to prepare all institutions ahead of time to accurately assess their capabilities and improve any shortcomings. He added that exercises aimed to test equipment and assess the performance of rescue teams in addition to improving liaison with relevant departments in case of a possible flood. He said that Rescue 1122 is doing a great job and such joint exercises help improve coordination between all stakeholders so resources could be made compatible with that of the challenge. Furthermore, he also appreciated volunteers’ contribution in this regard.

Later, Assistant Commissioner Kamran Ashraf also inspected the Rescue 1122 equipment used in emergency operations.

Published in Dawn, May 31st, 2023