NDMA to provide all out support to boost capacity of disaster response teams of country

LAHORE, Feb 15 (APP):National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Chairman, Lt Gen Akhtar Nawaz said the NDMA would provide all possible support and arrange mutual training programs to boost the capacity of different disaster response teams of the country.

He visited Emergency Services Headquarters & Academy of Rescue 1122 here Tuesday and met DG Punjab Emergency Service Department Dr Rizwan Naseer.They discussed matters of joint training schedule/ cycle of other urban search & rescue teams of the country and coordination mechanism for deployment of UN certified Rescue Team in case of disaster inland/abroad.

Chairman NDMA also met with Pakistan Rescue Team (PRT) of Emergency Services Academy, the First United Nations INSARAG Certified in South Asia.

On the occasion, Chairman NDMA said that it was landmark achievement of Rescue 1122 to receive UN Certification for disaster response.

He also took detailed briefing about the process of urban search and rescue training, international certification and specialized purpose-built training simulators in the Academy as well as ongoing specialized training activities of ‘fire, rescue, medical, deep well rescue, burn house, fire fit challenge, height rescue, water rescue, swimming, urban search & rescue, and physical fitness training’.

The Chairman NDMA also visited the Provincial Monitoring Cell established to ensure uniform standards of service in all districts of Punjab. He was briefed about the monitoring system which included visual monitoring of control rooms, fleet management and tracking system, citizen feedback, and the overall emergency data.

Dr. Rizwan said it was a matter of great honor for Pakistan that the Pakistan Rescue Team of Emergency Services Academy (Rescue 1122) Lahore has become the First United Nations- INSARAG Classified team in South Asia after completing an extensive evaluation process of several years under the supervision of UN INSARAG mentors.