210
THE ARMed serVICES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES
casualty departments of hospitals. The ambulance unit, under the operational command of the Director of Fire Services, provides reinforcements for the regular Ambulance Service. The Auxiliary Medical Service also supplies mobile first-aid teams to work with rescue units and during the year the service assisted at the scene of large fires, traffic accidents and the two aircraft crashes in Kowloon Bay.
The Civil Aid Services, formed in 1951 has an active strength of about 5,500 volunteers. It developed out of the wartime Air Raid Warden Service. Civil Defence in a wide sense remains the primary purpose of this unit. The organization consists of a warden service for general duty tasks; a rescue service and co-ordinating command units in Kowloon and on Hong Kong Island.
In emergencies it is available to assist government departments and public utility companies by providing manpower, both skilled and unskilled. This year, during the civil unrest, many CAS personnel were mobilized to help maintain strike affected services and to perform other duties.
<--111]
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.