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Public Order
as cigarette ends, matches and candles caused 1,043 fires, while electrical faults caused 767 fires. Unwanted alarms, triggered mainly by faulty automatic alarm systems, contributed to about 74 per cent of the total number of fire calls.
The department also provides a wide range of rescue services for incidents such as traffic accidents, shipwrecks, people trapped in elevators or locked in rooms, gas leakages, house collapses, flooding, landslides, industrial accidents and attempts by people to jump from heights. The department handled 31,115 such special service calls in 2013.
Ambulance Services
The Ambulance Command handled 720,179 calls in 2013, an average of 1,973 calls per day.
The department's ambulance fleet is manned by paramedics. All emergency ambulances and emergency medical assistant motorcycles are fully equipped with life-support equipment such as automated external defibrillators and selected drugs for conditions including diabetes, shock, heart attack, shortness of breath and drug overdose. To enhance the emergency ambulance service, the department provides simple Post Dispatch Advice (PDA) by phone on some easily identified conditions (general bleeding, bone fractures/dislocation to limbs, burns, convulsion, heat exposure and hypothermia) after dispatching an ambulance to the scene. The PDA includes simple first-aid and time-saving advice to facilitate the provision of prompt medical assistance to patients.
The department continues to train front-line firemen to become first responders to provide basic life-saving support to casualties and patients while ambulance crews are on their way to the scene. In 2013, first responders attended to 42,047 calls.
Communications
The Fire Services Communications Centre, manned round-the-clock and equipped with the Third Generation Mobilising System, is responsible for mobilising all fire-fighting and ambulance resources to provide timely fire and ambulance services to the community. The centre also receives complaints about fire hazards and dangerous goods and acts as an emergency co- ordinator for other government departments and public utilities during large-scale emergencies or major calamities.
The use of Digital Trunked Radio System ensures effective and efficient radio communication at scenes of incidents.
Fire Safety
The Fire Safety Command draws up fire safety policies and formulates fire safety measures for buildings and mass transit systems. It also devotes much of its efforts to upgrading arrangements and procedures to protect old buildings from fire and to raise awareness of fire safety. The command's two Building Improvement Divisions enforce the Fire Safety (Commercial Premises) Ordinance and the Fire Safety (Buildings) Ordinance and investigate reports of fire hazards in buildings. The Special Enforcement Unit conducts proactive inspections of old buildings and takes enforcement action against irregularities.
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