ENG-1975 — Page 219

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THE ARMED SERVICES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES

The main operational duty performed by the Civil Aid Services in 1975 was the staffing of camps for the Vietnamese refugees who arrived in Hong Kong. Several camps were established in co-operation with the Armed Services and government departments. During the first few months the Civil Aid Services deployed up to 300 volunteers a day on a shift basis. This placed a heavy burden on employers, but they co-operated wholeheartedly in releasing volunteers.

The organisation has a junior wing, the Cadet Corps, which comprises 2,000 youths aged between 14 and 18. The aim of the Cadet Corps is to help boys to develop, to make them aware of civic responsibilities, and to provide organised camps, sports and expeditions. Recruits are mostly from resettlement and other heavily congested urban areas and they are posted to a cadet unit in the area in which they live. A restruc- turing of the Cadet Corps is in process to make it an independent body within the Civil Aid Services.

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Cadets are taught the basic skills as practised in the adult service as well as camping, trekking, forest conservation, life-saving and mountaineering techniques. For the 17 to 18 age group, more advanced courses are held in mechanical engineer- ing, fibreglass canoe making and allied subjects. Development continued during the year of a 50-acre campsite on a plateau 750 feet above Tsing Lung Tau on the Castle Peak Road. Plans to make safe and renovate the old village-type houses were in hand. The work is being financed by a donation of $250,000 from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities. The camp, when completed, will be able to accommodate more than 300 youths under canvas.

Auxiliary Medical Service

The Auxiliary Medical Service-which augments the regular medical, health, and ambulance services-celebrated its 25th anniversary in December 1975. A new zone headquarters was opened at Tung Chung, Lantau. The organisation is now fully up to strength with a membership of more than 6,000-including doctors, nurses, phar- macists, and other professionally-qualified volunteers. Non-professional members receive training in first aid, casualty handling, ambulance duties and hospital ward services. Throughout the year, on Sundays and public holidays, members were deploy- ed on ambulance duty and they also assisted at methadone maintenance centres and other medical institutions. Volunteers also manned the Auxiliary Medical Service's own two ambulances.

Members helped to receive the Vietnamese refugees when they arrived in Hong Kong, and afterwards manned medical posts and sick bays at the refugee camps on a round-the-clock basis. Auxiliary nurses also staffed and ran the milk kitchens in each camp.

The Auxiliary Fire Service

The Auxiliary Fire Service was disbanded on March 31, 1975 after several decades of valuable service. Its numbers had decreased sharply since the introduction of new training, fitness and age requirements in 1972, and membership was less than 200 at the time of disbandment.