THE ARMED SERVICES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES
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rescue, casualty evacuation flights from remote areas and aeromed- ical services. A 24-hour emergency call service is also provided.
Some thirty casualty evacuations were carried out this year. Sorties have been flown to assist the Marine Police in the location of refugee junks, and the Criminal Investigation Department with drug trafficking. The aircraft have also been used to deliver weekly newspapers and medical pamphlets to remote villages in the New Territories and the outlying islands. One of the Austers has been fitted with a vertical survey camera and carries out weekly photo- graphic sorties for government departments. Many visiting VIP's and local civil dignitaries were flown by the aircraft.
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ESSENTIAL SERVICES CORPS
The Essential Services Corps consists of some 60 units which can be mobilized during severe emergencies to maintain public utilities and other essential services. Approximately half of the 11,000 strong corps is formed from government departments and the other half from commercial organizations. Each unit prin- cipally staffed by volunteers employed by the departments or organization concerned. Comprehensive plans for the operation of each unit have been prepared and co-ordinated with the police and military. Since in an emergency most members perform their normal duties, the need for training does not on the whole arise. However, co-ordination exercises are held from time to time. The corps is primarily designed for operations in serious emergencies when there is a risk of essential services breaking down unless staff are specially organized to meet such circumstances. It was not necessary to mobilize the corps during the disturbances in 1967.
The Auxiliary Fire Services, with a strength of some 700, provide a first line reserve for the regular Fire Service. Members carry out weekly training and stand by at various stations each week-end for operational experience. They frequently reinforce the regular Fire Service during major fires and natural disasters such as typhoons and landslides. The Auxiliary Fire Services Band gave a number of concerts in parks and playgrounds and provided military music for Fire Services ceremonies on many occasions. Sixty Auxiliary Fire Services officers were awarded the Civil Defence Long Service Medal during the year. In May, an initial unit of the