LAHORE: The passing-out ceremony of 217 rescuers from Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), Gilgit-Baltistan and Punjab was held at the Emergency Services Academy on Monday.

Around 53 rescuers from Punjab, 130 from Gilgit-Baltistan and 34 from AJK successfully completed their professional training.

The cadets demonstrated professional skills of emergency management during mock exercises of deep well rescue, water rescue, firefighting, urban search and rescue, rescue from confined spaces during smoke, rescue from height and medical emergency management.

The cadets were given specialised medical, rescue, firefighting and height rescue training in the first phase and specialised training courses were arranged for them in the fields of communication, medical first responder, collapsed structure search and rescue, incident command system and community safety training in the second phase.

Academy Director General (DG) Amir Hamza congratulated the rescuers for completing their training and praised them for joining the life-saving service.

The chief minister’s adviser Rana Maqbool praised the rescuers for putting their lives in danger to save others, adding that he witnessed excellent professionalism from rescuers in accidents, floods and other disasters.

He said the government had also provided funds for the establishment of urban search and rescue teams at divisional level in the province. Two specialised teams -- one in Lahore and the other in Rawalpindi -- would be operational this year.

He further said the government was working on expanding rescue services to all tehsil headquarters in the province.

Punjab Emergency Services DG Arshad Zia thanked all the participants of the passing-out parade and congratulated the cadets for completing their training.

Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited Managing Director Ahmad Latif, United Nations Office For Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Pakistan head Dr Heli Uusikyla, AJK Civil Defence and Rescue 1122 DG Zulfiqar Ali, Gilgit-Baltistan Rescue 1122 DG Dr Sher Aziz and Emergency Services Academy Registrar Dr Muhammad Farhan Khalid and a large number of rescuers, their parents and friends also attended the ceremony.

Published in Dawn, July 26th, 2016