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THE ARMED SERVICES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES

corps hold occasional exercises to practise their role and the headquarters of units also take part in joint telephone command and control exercises with both police and military.

The Auxiliary Medical Service has a strength of over 5,700 volunteers of whom more than 1,000 are professionally qualified in medicine, nursing, pharmacy, pathology or hospital administration. Others are trained as auxiliary nurses and dressers or as ambulance drivers and attendants; while the remainder are trained as first aid workers for disaster relief or for certain public functions, and also as light rescue workers in the New Territories and outlying islands. A large proportion of the membership com- prises 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 service; others reinforce Urban Services Department lifeguards on beaches or at public swimming pools during the summer months. During emergencies, all members are deployed to work in co-ordination with the Medical and Health Department and the Ambulance Section of the Fire Services Department.

The Civil Aid Services, first established in 1951, is now a volunteer organisation trained and equipped to deal with all kinds of civil emergencies. It also operates the only trained Mountain Rescue teams in Hong Kong. The service is divided into two main wings. The adult wing numbers some 3,600 officers and members who are posted either to the warden service, the rescue units, the command units, the pay and records unit or the stores sub-section according to interest or ability. Before passing out, each recruit is required to undergo a series of training courses including fire-fighting, first aid, light rescue, foot drill and general warden service duties. The junior wing (cadet corps) has at present a total of 20 units. Each unit has an establishment of 100 boys from 14 to 18 years of age. The corps aims at training the boys in citizenship and basic skills in helping others, through a versatile programme of outdoor and indoor activities such as camping, canoeing, folk-dancing and elementary training in first aid, life-saving and casualty handling. More than 2,000 Civil Aid Services volunteers were employed alongside Fire Services Department, police and military personnel at the scenes of the tragic disasters at Kotewall Road and Sau Mau Ping during the June rainstorms.

The Auxiliary Fire Service has undergone a year of consolidation which has seen its membership reduce to 200. This was due to many members reaching retirement age and the introduction of higher minimum medical standards. Smaller units within the service have been regrouped to improve training programmes and to ensure that an adequate number of personnel can be concentrated at major fire stations when re- quired. All personnel continue to render valuable support to their regular colleagues throughout the territory, and their assistance is particularly appreciated in the New Territories and outlying islands where the service plays an important role. The Aux- iliary Fire Service Band, having recruited a number of young members, continues to entertain the public with regular concerts in addition to providing music at official Fire Service functions.