MERC responds to 1500 accidents, rescues 2500 precious lives in northern Balochistan
By Rafiullah Mandokhail
ZHOB: ‘Since the establishment of Medical Emergency Response Centers along the national highway connecting Balochistan with Khyber Pakhtoonkhwa, so far responded to around 1500 road accidents and rescued over 2500 precious lives,’ this number has been revealed by an official at the MERC in northern Balochistan.
‘MERC provides medical assistance in road accidents or RTAs, poisoning, drowning, burn injuries, snake bite cases and heat wave cases,’ the official added.
The Balochistan government under the administration of the Public Primary Health Initiative (PPHI) has established specialized emergency service centers on major highways in the province in 2019, which provide emergency healthcare to the people in their catchment areas. All the MERC centers are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities, trained emergency staff, medical supplies and advanced lifesaving ambulances.
Along the national highway N-50, two centers MERC Badinzai in Zhob – from Sawara bridge Musafirpur to District headquarter civil hospital and MERC Mani Khwa in Sherani district – from Kataw Dabara Dhana Sar to DHQ hospital have been playing an active role in this remote and mountainous area of Balochistan. The trained rescuers and paramedics are working round the clock to provide medical treatment and rescue facilities in case of a road accident and other emergencies. The mentioned above centers have responded to thousands of accidents on the highway so far, whereas injured people have been provided treatment on an emergency basis.
People in this remote and mountainous part of Balochistan have lauded the hectic efforts and services of Rafiullah Mandokhail in charge of MERC Mani Khwa and Abdul Razzaq Kakar in charge of MERC Badinzai and demanded of the high authorities to award them appreciation certificates in recognition of their best performance.
According to the data, during the recent five years, the province has witnessed a staggering 900 lives lost and over forty thousand injuries on the provincial highways in traffic accidents. On the other hand the MERC data shows that more than thirty thousand traffic accidents took place on highways during the above mentioned period, and last year alone the MERC responded to 14000 people on highways.
