By Our Correspondent
PURI:On the occasion of the holy Debasnana Purnima of Lord Jagannath, the ‘Special Rescue Unit’ of Odisha Fire Service has created a unique example of service and safety amidst the gathering of lakhs of devotees at Puri Badadand. Despite the adverse conditions of crowd and noise, this specially trained team has become a divine messenger for the devotees and the devotees.
For the safety of the devotees and to deal with emergency situations, DG of Fire Services Dr. Sudhanshu Sandhangi, IG Dr. Uma Shankar Dash and other senior officers are present in Puri and are closely monitoring all the arrangements.
This year, 8 Special Rescue Units were formed, comprising 41 skilled, brave and specially trained personnel. These units were specially trained in providing CPR, oxygen support and proper evacuation of the injured/victims in emergency situations. These ‘Special Rescue Units’ were deployed at various important places to provide immediate services to the devotees in case of any emergency during Devasnan Purnima.
Today, the team provided immediate first aid to 27 devotees who fell ill in the crowd with stretchers, oxygen support and first aid. Apart from this, two persons were also rescued from the Puri beach.
To support this ‘special rescue team’, the Odisha Fire Service made elaborate security arrangements at various important places in Puri city.
A total of 5 fire tenders (2 at Baradand, 1 at the railway station, 1 at Maltipatpur bus stand and 1 at the beach) were deployed.
An incident command vehicle, 6 quick response vehicles, 6 water mist vehicles and 2 water tankers were also deployed to monitor the situation.
To provide relief to the devotees and devotees from the extreme heat, a total of 36,000 liters of water was sprayed from morning to evening by special vehicles.
A total of 246 firefighters and 100 Civil Defense volunteers, including special rescue teams, were working continuously to serve the devotees.
The role of this special rescue team of the fire brigade in ensuring the peaceful completion of the Lord’s bathing procession and providing safety to the devotees has been highly appreciated by the devotees.
