ISLAMABAD: A proposal has been put forward to establish a fully autonomous, state-of-the-art emergency service under Pakistan’s Ministry of Interior to strengthen Islamabad’s preparedness against fires, heavy rainfall, monsoon emergencies and other disasters.
The recommendation comes after a recent emergency response drill, during which the Capital Emergency Service demonstrated an impressive response time. Emergency management and firefighting experts say the capital’s emergency services should no longer operate as a subordinate department or temporary wing. Instead, they recommend creating a permanent flagship institution under the Ministry of Interior, similar to the Police, Frontier Corps (FC), Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) and Civil Defence.
Experts believe that transforming the service into an independent organization would enable Islamabad to develop a modern emergency response system that could serve as a model for other provinces.
They have proposed introducing a Capital Emergency Services Act to provide the institution with a permanent legal framework. The proposal also calls for the immediate recruitment of around 300 personnel to fill vacant positions and strengthen operational capacity.
To ensure international-standard training, experts have recommended establishing the capital’s first Capital Emergency Services Academy, where personnel would receive professional and refresher training to enhance their skills.
The proposal further recommends setting up a fully independent digital command and control centre equipped with live geo-mapping and real-time communication systems. The facility would allow the nearest rescue teams to be dispatched within seconds of receiving an emergency call and would be directly linked to the Ministry of Interior’s command centre for continuous monitoring.
Experts also stressed the need to procure modern fire tenders and advanced life-support ambulances. In addition, they proposed introducing a motorbike ambulance service for densely populated and traffic-congested areas of Islamabad to further reduce emergency response times.
The recommendations follow a recent mock emergency exercise in which the Capital Emergency Service reached the incident site within eight minutes after a test call made by Acting Deputy Commissioner Sahibzada Yousaf.
Following the successful drill, Interior Minister Mohsin Naqvi directed CDA Chairman Sohail Ashraf to submit a comprehensive plan for upgrading the emergency service within seven days.
Experts say the minister’s initiative presents an opportunity to move beyond short-term improvements by establishing a permanent and modern emergency force capable of meeting the growing needs of the federal capital.
