CDGK officials oppose induction of senior staff in ambulance service
* 144 senior officials summoned for upcoming facility
By Jamil Khan | KARACHI
THE City District Government Karachi (CDGK) has decided to mobilize senior officials of different departments for the newly established 1122-Ambulance Service, rather than inducting young and inexperienced officials to the service, Daily Times learnt on Tuesday.
Sources in the city government told Daily Times that the CDGK’s 1122-Ambulance Service is scheduled to begin from January 1. The service will be linked to five major hospitals of the city, so that quick action and response can be made possible.
In this regard, CDGK Health Department summoned around 144 officials from different departments, the majority being from the Municipal Public Health. “Most of the transferred officials are working in the city government’s different graveyards as Halalkhor (responsible for the supervision of gravediggers and graveyard maintenance) and in Hamal (city government’s blue collar staff deputed in different offices). Transferring these officials will cause a serious dearth in these sections,” sources disclosed.
The sources further mentioned that this will not only hamper the routine work of these officials but will also negatively affect the performance of the ambulance service. The other officials being summoned from the municipal services department are deputed to maintain the cleanliness of Shahrah-e-Faisal and other major thoroughfares.
Some of the CDGK officials criticized that the new ambulance service section should be under the operation of the Fire Brigade Department and not under the Health Department. The representatives of different city government labour unions stated that deputing aged staff members in an active section of the city government will be a bad move on the CDGK’s part. “The city nazim should take serious notice of this and hire a young and energetic force to run this service smoothly,” they said.
The CDGK imported nine modern ambulance vehicles six months ago, at an estimated cost of Rs 26 million. The vehicles are currently parked in the open area of the Civic Centre and have all the latest medical emergency equipment and facilities including a stretcher, wheel-chair, spine board, oxygen, ambu-bag, critical care machine, fire extinguisher and a blood pressure kit.
The five major hospitals to be linked with 1122-Ambulance Service include Aga Khan Hospital, Liaquat National Hospital, Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Civil Hospital and Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. All these healthcare institutes will also be interlinked with the dedicated helpline and will be required to respond in any emergency situation.
The CDGK officials confirmed that more ambulances will be procured in the coming months and the number of these ambulances will be increased to 32. Health Department EDO Dr A D Sajnani was not available for comments.
– Published in Daily Times | Dec 24, 2008
Jamil Khan -- The Journalist 