The members of the pioneer batch of Rescue 1122 gathered here at Emergency Services Headquarters on Thursday to commemorate the completion of 13 years of service.
The members recalled the moments that they had spent in establishing a lifesaving service, which has rescued over 4.8 million emergency victims through its emergency ambulance and saved losses worth Rs 244 billion to the government, along with responding to over 95,000 fire incidents through professional firefighting, in all of the districts of Punjab.
In this regard, a ceremony was organised at the Emergency Services Headquarters and was chaired by Punjab DG Rescue Dr Rizwan Naseer.
Rizwan congratulated the pioneers of rescue 1122 service by saying, “I along with 183 first responders was worried about the training of the officials when the Commandant Elite Police provided the training ground for the Elite Police at Bedian Road”.
He said that they started from point zero, but now the institution was over 10000 strong including trained Emergency Medical Technicians (EMTs) and Fire Rescuers with a diploma of associate engineering.
Dr Rizwan Naseer said that later on, he carried out efforts for the welfare of the rescuers and worked hard for getting their fixed daily allowance approved by the authorities.
He said that he was glad to see that those who joined the Service as EMTs or Station Coordinators are now working as officers. He said that now, it was their responsibility to maintain the standards of the service.
He added that he has concerns over managerial issues related to the fire incidents in Lahore. He asked the District Emergency Officers to maintain their physical fitness and enhance their performance. He said that the rescue officers should be role models for their subordinates.
Earlier, Dr Abdur Rehman said, “Today, we are respected across the world only due to the persistent efforts of DG Rescue Punjab as he was the only leader, who never lost heart.”
Dr Foaad said, “Leadership matters; we would have failed had we not had the leadership of Dr Rizwan Naseer.”
