ENG-1971 — Page 259

THE ARMED SERVICES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES

189

The Auxiliary Medical Service has a strength of over 5,400 volunteers of whom more than 1,000 are professionally qualified in medicine, nursing, pharmacy or hospital administration. The remainder are trained as auxiliary nurses and dressers or as ambulance drivers and attendants, first-aid workers for disaster relief and for certain public functions, and in the New Territories as light rescue workers. A large proportion of the membership comprises young people under 24 years of age and the Service experiences no difficulty in recruiting. At weekends and on public holidays, members of the Service man units in support of the regular ambulance services and others reinforce Urban Services Department lifeguards on beaches and at public swimming pools during the summer months.

1971 was the 20th anniversary of the founding of the Civil Aid Services. This is a volunteer organisation trained and equipped to deal with all kinds of civil emergencies, and has the Colony's only trained mountain rescue teams. The Service is divided into two main sections. The adult section numbers some 3,600 officers and members are posted to the warden service, rescue units, command units, the pay and records unit or the stores sub-section according to interest or ability. Each recruit is required to undergo a series of training courses including fire-fighting, first aid, light rescue, footdrill and general warden duties. The junior section (Cadets Corps) at present has a total of 20 units, each with an establishment of 100 boys whose ages range from 14 to 17. The Corps aims at training the boys in citizenship, community activities and the help of others through a wide-ranging programme of activities such as camping, canoeing, folk-dancing, and elementary training in first aid, life-saving and casualty-handling.

The Auxiliary Fire Service provides a reserve of manpower to augment the professional officers and men of the Fire Services Department. Members carry out integrated training with their regular counterparts, and under the supervision of regular officers. The strength of the Service was reduced during the year from 590 to 480, as a step towards relating its establishment more closely to the ability to recruit people who have the time to spare to become trained to the high standard required in the fire-fighting field. The unit continues to play an important role, particularly on the outlying islands. The Auxiliary Fire Service Band is a popular attraction and gives regular public concerts.