Punjab moves to prevent Pims-like tragedies

• Orders Rescue 1122 deployment at all teaching hospitals across the province
• 11-member working group to prepare SOPs for nursery, neonatology units

LAHORE: The Punjab government has initiated multiple major steps at public-sector hospitals across the province to prevent a recurrence of the incident that clai­med the lives of 14 infants at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in Islamabad.

The Specialised Healthcare & Medical Education Department on Sunday asked Emergency Services Department (ESD) Pu­n­­jab Secretary Rizwan Naseer to dep­loy Rescue 1122 officials at all government teaching hospitals across the province.

Through an official letter, the health secretary apprised the ESD head that it had been decided to engage the services of Punjab Emergency Service Rescue 1122 to establish a uniform and standard emergency response mechanism and strengthen emergency preparedness, response and coordination at tertiary-care hospitals across Punjab.

He said the main objective of the initiative was to establish a robust, integrated and uniform emergency response system with clearly defined roles, a command structure and escalation mechanisms across all tertiary-care hospitals.

“Emergency officers will be responsible for standardising and monitoring emergency response protocols,” the letter stated, adding that the officers would coordinate with hospital emergency, security, fire-safety and other relevant teams.

They would also be responsible for conducting regular inspections of emergency exits, fire extinguishers and life-safety arrangements.

The health secretary also sought the names, designations and contact details of the officers to be app­ointed at the hospitals to discharge the assigned responsibilities.

Technical Working Group

Separately, the Punjab government has constituted an 11-member Technical Working Group (TWG), comprising senior medical teachers and doctors, to review and prepare Standard Operating Proce­dures (SOPs) for nursery and neonatology setups at all public-sector teaching hospitals in the province.

A notification in this regard was issued, appointing University of Child Health Sciences Lahore Vice Chancellor Prof Masood Sadiq as its convener.

According to its terms of reference, the committee shall develop clinical admission and discharge criteria to optimise utilisation and load management; establish formal step-down and shared-care pathways with peripheral hospitals to divert stable neonates for efficient utilisation of available resources; and guide hospitals on infrastructure requirements relating to fire hazards, electrical-load risks and evacuation challenges.

Similarly, the committee shall draft comprehensive SOPs for fire safety, evacuation, firefighting and electrical-load management tailored to neonatal settings; design training modules for doctors, nurses and support staff on evacuation drills, neonatal handling and basic firefighting; and develop checklists and audit tools for regular compliance monitoring.

The committee has been directed to submit its recommendations to the competent authority within seven days.

Published in Dawn, August 31st, 2026