Punjab Emergency Service Rescue 1122 has started induction process for dedicated Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) Units at divisional level.
Director General Rescue 1122 Dr Arshad Zia said the chief minister visionary step to establish dedicated USAR teams would definitely enhance operational capacity of the Rescue 1122, says a press release issued here on Saturday.
In this regard, induction process for recruiting USAR teams (each consisting of 50 members) for Division Lahore and Rawalpindi, have been started by publishing recruitment advertisement in leading newspapers, he said and added that interested candidates could apply through National Testing Service and successful candidates would have golden opportunity to be a part of specialised team.
The process to procure emergency vehicles, machinery and equipment for two USAR units has also been started for timely fulfilling the need of establishing specialized teams in both divisions, he added.
The DG said that Chief Minister Shehbaz Sharif had formally approved a summary for the establishment of urban search and rescue teams in all nine divisional headquarters of the Punjab.
The Division Lahore and Rawalpindi were included in the first phase due to increased number of complex emergencies anddisasters whereas in second phase remaining divisions would be capacitated with dedicated Urban Search and Rescue Teams and Specialized Equipment, he said.
Furthermore, Rescue 1122 will complete this process with the support of Army in terms of ensuing quality training to specialised teams as Pakistan Army and Capital Development Authority (CDA) possess requisite modern and sophisticated Urban Search and Rescue equipment as well as trained human resource.
These USAR Teams after Division Lahore and Rawalpindi will be established in Multan, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sargodha, Bahawalpur, DG Khan and Sahiwal, he added.