By Mubashir Fida, IFRC senior communications officer, in Islamabad
Pakistan is in a grip of violence. Last Monday, at least 30 people lost their lives while another 45 sustained injuries in a suicide bomb explosion in Rawalpindi, a major city south of Islamabad. The Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS) immediately deployed four ambulances to provide basic first aid and response services to the injured people.
"When we reached the explosion site we saw dead bodies and blood there. It was shocking," says 19–year-old volunteer Muhammad Aqeel, who was on ambulance duty as a part of an emergency response team.
Muhammad Aqeel and 15 colleagues looked for wounded people, provided them with basic first and transported them to nearby hospitals. The team – a group of PRCS doctors and first aid staff and volunteers - also took dead bodies to the morgue.
Scene was "a nightmare"
Qamar Zaman, 24, has been working with the PRCS ambulance service for the past year and describes the scene as a nightmare. "There was grief and anguish everywhere and people were frightened. I have never seen such a sight before," he says.
Responding to these scenes has become routine for PRCS ambulance service staff in Peshawar.
Last week the city experienced one of the deadliest explosions in its history - 110 people were killed, 250 were injured, and 20 are still missing.
"The explosion took place in a crowded market, where narrow streets made the response challenging," says doctor Khalid Qureshi, PRCS senior first aid trainer in Peshawar. According to him there was a big fire in the nearby buildings, which caused several to collapse.
Emergency situations
As a capacity building initiative, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) provided Pakistan's National Society with 19 ambulances in order to help it respond to more emergency situations.
"The PRCS is one of the leading neutral response organizations under these circumstances. Our capacity building initiative has paid off well," says Pepe Salmela, The IFRC's head of country delegation in Pakistan.
The security situation in major cities of Pakistan has worsened after the launch of a military offensive by the Pakistan army in South Waziristan at the beginning of October. The attacks are believed to be a reaction of the militants. Several educational institutes, police and military installations have received threats to face "dire circumstances" by the militants.
Fundamental Principles
PRCS and the IFRC, in close collaboration with the ICRC, carry out humanitarian operations in Pakistan following the Fundamental Principles of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement. The organizations strictly adhere to the "Neutral Impartial Humanitarian Action" approach and provide relief services to the most vulnerable without any discrimination.
PRCS is supporting internally displaced people from Swat and Waziristan with the support of the ICRC, and in Hazara Division with the support of the IFRC.
