Peshawar: The government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) has decided to set up eight satellite Rescue 1122 stations at various points along the motorways and highways in the province, a news source reported. The project will be funded by the United States Agency for International Development, who will provide PKR 139.2 million. The purpose of this project is to make an effort to decrease the number of lives lost and disabilities caused by road accidents on these highways.
These satellite rescue stations will be set up by the relief, rehabilitation and settlement (RRS) department and executed by Rescue 1122. According to the PC-1 of the project, pre-hospital emergency facilities are almost non-existent along all major motorways and highways. There are no dedicated ambulance services to transport or cater to injured people, thus there is an urgent need for modern emergency rescue services in the area.
RRS secretary Mohammad Abid Majeed has said that the rescue stations will provide emergency services round the clock. The RSS was in contact with the National Highway Authority (NHA) to procure land and shipping containers for the project. Mobile operating theatre ambulances equipped with trained trauma staff will be available at these centres.
The plan is to establish these centres at the midpoints of Peshawar and Mardan and Mardan and Swabi on M-1, the midpoint of Kohat-Bannu Road and Sarai Gambila on the Indus Highway, Lowari Tunnel on N-45 highway, midpoint of Katlang interchange and Malakand tunnel on Swat Expressway, and Saria Saleh interchange on Hazara Motorway. This initiative comes in line with several other projects the KP government is collaborating with Rescue 1122 on, including the integration of Rescue 1122 with careem.
