Road Crashes Increased by 1.5% in Punjab: Report

Emergency Services Secretary Dr. Rizwan Naseer stated that Rescue 1122 saved over 1.75 million emergency victims and responded to 1,536,638 emergencies in 2022 while maintaining a 7-minute average response time in all districts of Punjab.

Provincial Monitoring and Control Room informed the secretary that 369,564 Road Traffic Crashes (RTCs) occurred in Punjab in 2022, which amounts to a 1.5% increase from 2021. The reasons for crashes include overspeeding, poor visibility due to smog, dilapidated roads, etc.

Furthermore, the Motorbike Rescue Service responded to 346,981 incidents in all districts of Punjab with an average response time of four minutes in 2022.

The provincial monitoring officer reported that 174,123 victims received free patient transfer services from primary healthcare facilities to specialized and advanced healthcare facilities last year.

Expansion of Motorbike Ambulance Services

In November 2022, the Punjab government expanded the bike ambulance service across the province. The Motorcycle Rescue Service (MRS) now operates in all districts across Punjab to facilitate the dwellers of rural areas and densely populated regions.

Prior to this development, MRS only existed in the main districts such as Lahore and Rawalpindi. The expansion has facilitated public health and well-being as well as job creation. The department added that the new service will provide urgent care services to the masses as well.