Murad launches state of art Rescue 1122 service initially with 50 ambulances in city

KARACHI (May 31): Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah inaugurating a state-of-art Rescue 1122 service announced that it would be made `a complete package of Rescue, relief and rehabilitation’ by connecting it with fire brigade service Trauma Centers all over Sindh. The inauguration ceremony was organized at KMC Sports Complex and was attended by provincial ministers, Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Saeed Ghani, Bari Pitafi, Shahela Raza, CM Advisors, Murtaza Wahab, Haji Rasool Bux, the host of the programme, Special Assistants-Waqar Mehdi, Qasim Siraj Soomro, World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine, DG PDMA Salman Shah, Asif Memon and others. The CM said that we have launched a new Ambulance Service which is the first step towards establishing a state-of-the-art Rescue 1122 service in Sindh. “The province of Sindh is one of the most vulnerable provinces of Pakistan in terms of climate change, natural disasters and other safety hazards,” he said and added in the last decade alone, there have been numerous reports of casualties resulting from natural calamities such as recurring heatwaves, floodings, droughts as well as from other catastrophes such as accidents, fires, explosions, or epidemics. Murad Ali Shah said that due to unprecedented trends of urban expansion and recurring natural as well as human-induced disasters experienced by the province in the last decade, especially in the COVID-19 pandemic, the need for such a service has been salient. The CM said that it was the duty of the provincial government to undertake measures to ensure public safety and healthcare by addressing different emergencies. “My government’s top priority is to provide an emergency Rescue, Relief and Rehabilitation service to the people whenever any disaster strikes,” he said and added “a service which provides aid efficiently and as quickly as possible, a service which deals with the catastrophe as the first responder and tries to mitigate the consequences of it.” Murad Ali Shah said that in tune with this Ideology, his government was enthusiastic to announce the launch of a comprehensive rescue service under the Rescue 1122 project, our new initiative. “50 ambulances out of 230 are being launched in the city in the first phase and later on the services would be expanded in other divisions and districts of the Province,” the CM announced. Mr Shah said that under the project, the next phase was to establish a Central Command and Control Center to coordinate and ensure the efficient use of the Rescue 1122 services. “Apart from a centralized command center, work on divisional level headquarters have also begun to operationalize them in a couple of months,” he vowed. “The provincial government is keen to roll out a similar service to the other districts in the province,” Murad Ali Shah said and added “understand the scale of the emergency and how the province along with its people are vulnerable to climate change, natural and human disasters we are also under the process of preparing a mega project which will improve the delivery of emergency relief service across the whole province. Mr Shah disclosed that a proposal for scaling up the rescue stations at all districts of Sindh was being negotiated with the World Bank - Inshallah, it will be replicated in the remaining 24 districts of the province soon. Murad Ali Shah announced that the Rescue Service 1122 would be linked with fire brigade services and the services of Trauma Centers for complete rescue and rehabilitation. He added that this model would be established all over Sindh. The CM appreciated the efforts of his Advisor for Relief and Rehabilitation Department Haji Rasool Bux Chandio and his team for materializing the scheme. He thanked the outstanding contribution of the World Bank for its financial assistance to implement the Sindh Resilience Project, PDMA, Rehabilitation Department with the aim to establish an Emergency Response and “Rescue Service 1122” in the province which would respond professionally and timely to natural and man-made calamities. Mr Shah thanked Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif for his support to launch 1122 Rescue Service with the technical help of Punjab Rescue Service. Those who spoke on the occasion include Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, CM Advisor on Rehabilitation Haji Rasool Bux Chandio CM Advisor on Law Murtaza Wahab, Country Director World bank Mr Najy Benhassaine and Asif Memon. #Sindh #Rescue1122 #AmbulanceService