The core objectives of PALS are two pronged:

One: to provide a Public Service to the people visiting the beaches - and

Two: to provide employment as life guards, to the impoverished coastal communities. PALS is employing over 150 people from the coastal villages from Sandspit to Mubarak Village.

All the 150+ lifeguards employed belong to the poor fishing communities situated along the coastline (the rationale for employing people from the coastal communities is that they are naturally good and strong ocean swimmers in addition to the fact that the beaches they patrol is their back yard and no one knows these coastal water better), thereby providing a much-needed livelihood to an otherwise impoverished society of the country

Pointers:
1.	Karachi has an extensive coastline with over 35 km of public beaches. The Arabian Sea is considered a rough sea by international standards as compared with the Indian Ocean which it merges into.
2.	Karachi citizen's are supposed to grow up with the sea, it's something we take for granted. It's fun, familiar...but a DEADLY! Over 250 people die in Karachi waters every year.
3.	Lack of swimming skills and public awareness are major causes of these accidental deaths by drowning.
4.	PALS is an NGO which that has been formed to ensure that people are safe in and around water - at home, in public pools, at the beach, in lakes, in rivers or out at sea.
5.	PALS vision is to ensure everyone in Pakistan will have the water safe attitudes, skills, and exhibit the necessary behavior to use and enjoy our water environments safely.
6.	PALS core philosophy is achieving water safety through education. PALS is committed to leading, profiling and achieving water safety in Pakistan through education, training and development, and actively promoting water safety awareness.
7.	MISSION: Thru water safety education, prevent death by drowning.
8.	Since July 18, 2004 , when PALS started its first day of patrols on Karachi's beaches (holidays only until sponsorships are secured), there have been 'zero drownings' to date with over 100 rescue and preventive actions performed by PALS lifeguards every patrol day.

Areas of Responsibility
Keeping in view the fact that PALS is being established from ground up, it is proposed to split the areas of responsibilities into stages for simplification in implementation. The stages being:

Stage One - Initial Responsibilities
Stage One responsibilities involve the basics of life guarding. The focus at this level will is to indulge in those activities that are more focused on near-shore recues and are dependant on man-power as opposed to capital intensive equipment. The services under this stage have a significant life saving impact on the general beach going public and is the building foundation of any life saving establishment.

The services and responsibilities currently being undertaken include:
• Water rescue of swimmers and recreational water craft users (near shore - within 2 KM into the water)
• Beach patrol and accident prevention education
• Emergency medical aid

Stage Two - Eventual Responsibilities
Stage Two responsibilities include those areas of lifeguard operations, that although essential, cannot be put in place due to the current financial constraints at PALS. These areas of responsibilities will become part of lifeguard duties, once the equipment for carrying out these responsibilities have been acquired and essential training levels achieved. In order to achieve this level of operations, PALS will need to ensure that an organized private donation/funding process is in place. This may take several years after initial start of operations.

Responsibilities will include;
• Boater rescue (fishing & recreation) up to three miles offshore
• Boat fire suppression
• Underwater search and rescue
• Missing persons and related emergencies
• Ambulance transportation to city hospitals