INL TRAINS PAKISTANI POLICE ON LIFE SAVING MEDICAL SKILLS

WASHINGTON, United States – In Pakistan, the police are often the first to respond to mass casualty incidents such as terrorist attacks, especially in remote areas.

However, law enforcement capability in medical first response is underdeveloped, and agencies lack the ability to train personnel properly in this area, let alone certify officers as emergency medical technicians.

To address this crucial need, the International Narcotic and Law enforcement unit of the Department of State, INL partnered with seven Pakistani police agencies to develop a comprehensive training course to enhance police emergency medical response skills and develop effective procedures to handle mass casualty events.

After completing the training, Senior Patrolling Officer of the National Highways and Motorway Police Qazi Muhammad Sabir said, “Without this training the only thing we can do (when responding to a motor vehicle accident) is put the injured in a vehicle for transport to the hospital.

“Now, I am able to provide medical treatment that will save lives.” Frontier Constabulary officer Hazrat Hussain, describing his experience of an attack at a police training center with more than 90 casualties, confided that “…lives would have been saved if I had this training at the time of this attack.”