By ‘Dotun Akintomide
The fleet of rescue and emergency equipment of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, LASEMA on Thursday received a boost with the procurement of additional Power Bikes, Rescue Ram, Cutters, Combi Tools, Concrete Cutters among others to aid quick emergency interventions.
Speaking at the unveiling of the new equipment which include; light duty search and rescue equipment and 9 Power Bikes on Thursday at the LRU Office, Cappa, Oshodi, the Honourable Commissioner, Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Relations, Mr Seye Oladejo, represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr. Jemilade Longe said that the new equipment are meant to increase operational efficiency of LASEMA.
He also added that the huge investment of Governor Ambode in emergency response is a way of sending signals to investors that the city of Lagos is safe and responsive to emergency issues compared to what is obtainable in the developed world.
The Permanent Secretary, explained that the the procurement of the equipment was as a result of the realisation of the gap of getting to accident victims early enough and giving them necesaary assistance.
“We have noticed that when people get trapped in vehicles during accidents and emergency, responders are on ground at the emergency scene, the absence of these equipment that would enable them to break into the affected vehicle to rescue the victims usually render the whole rescue operation meaningless and the efforts of the LASEMA team would amount to nothing at that point in time” Dr. Longe reiterated.
Also speaking at the event, the General Manager of LASEMA, Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu said that the procurement of the equipment affirms the resolve of Governor Ambode to periodically increase the fleet of the Agency’s equipment.
According to him “the procurement of these equipment at this point cannot be over emphasised as the need to provide proper extrication and timely rescue to trapped victims in any form of life threatening incidents such as collapsed building, road traffic accident amongst others are pivotal to the Agency’s personnel in conducting these onerous tasks during emergency intervention.”
Tiamiyu also stated that the Power Bikes are essential in conducting incident assessment and would be deployed to incident scenes to carry out on-the-spot assessment as well as for the monitoring and surveillance towards mitigating against some unexpected events which may likely lead to loss of lives and properties.
He stated that the equipment and Power Bikes apart from being vital tools in urban search, rescue and emergency/disaster recovery, would also complement the vision of the Agency of building a resilient smart city Lagos through its activities and emergency interventions.
While appreciating the Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, for his unflinching support in the development of the State, Adesina used the occasion to plead with Lagosians to continue to support the present administration towards reducing emergencies/disasters to the barest minimum by adhering strictly to all safety rules and regulations.
The newly procured equipment include; Hydraulic rescue equipment, Power Unit attached with Spreader, Rescue Ram, Cutters, Combi Tools, Concrete Cutters amongst others would be distributed to all the LASEMA Response Unit across the State.
