Inspector General of Police Punjab Inam Ghani has said that it is very important to ensure swift movement of ambulances for protection of human lives on highways as only a few minutes’ delay due to traffic jam on the road causes loss of precious human lives.
Therefore, the implementation of security and traffic protocols for the immediate movement of ambulances on highways should be avoided so that no citizen has to face unnecessary wait to reach the hospital in a medical emergency. He further said that traffic police teams on highways in all the districts of the province should ensure measures for smooth movement of ambulances on priority basis and RPOs, CPOs and DPOs should also monitor the measures in this regard.
He further said that ambulances carrying patients should not be stopped unnecessarily at police checkpoints and ambulances should be allowed to leave immediately after confirmation of medical emergency. He further said that all police vehicles passing through the roads should clear the road for ambulances without delay and immediately clear the traffic signals to give way to the ambulances transporting patients to the hospital. He directed all RPOs, CPOs and DPOs of the province including CCPO Lahore and letter has been issued with this respect.
According to the details, the letter directed the regional and district police officers to immediately clear the road for the arrival of ambulances at the place of medical emergency and in case of road blockade or violation of one way on two lane roads should also be overlooked to protect the life of the patient. He further said that in case of a traffic accident, it is the responsibility of the police to clear the scene for traffic as soon as possible while providing all possible assistance to the ambulances and medical personnel to perform their duties on the highways. SOPs should be implemented in all cases.
The letter stressed that all RPOs, CPOs and DPOs should ensure implementation of the above instructions in all cases and departmental action should be taken against those responsible for violations.
