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THE ARMED SERVICES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES
The Royal Hong Kong Police Force made frequent use of helicopters for training and operations in isolated areas of the New Territories. As part of the Clean Hong Kong Campaign, regular helicopters patrols supported the Marine Department and the Environ- mental Protection Agency in identifying badly polluted areas.
The Cessna Titan and Britten-Norman Islander maintained off-shore patrols to spot illegal immigrants. They continued to assist the Lands Department in aerial survey, photography and map-making; also providing specialised training for air traffic control- lers. Hong Kong's long-range search and rescue commitment is also fulfilled by these aircraft, with a number of searches successfully undertaken during the year. The two Bulldogs provided pilot training for the squadron's own volunteers and student air traffic controllers.
Civil Aid Services
The Civil Aid Services is a uniformed and disciplined volunteer organisation made up of 3 600 adults and 2 525 cadets. The aim of the cadet corp is to train youths aged between 12 and 18 to act in a responsible and disciplined manner and become good citizens in the future.
The duties of the service are numerous and diverse, helping to relieve the pressure on Hong Kong's full-time emergency services. They range from coping with disasters and emergencies, to crowd control at public events and refugee camp management. In 1983, volunteers performed 350 such tasks involving 17 000 man-days. The structure of the service is kept under review to ensure that it is able to tackle the wide variety of tasks. Following a review in 1983, a new tactical force a rapid mobilisation team of volunteers trained in heavy rescue - was set up. Volunteers are ready for deployment at one hour's notice anywhere in the territory, helping to overcome one of the problems of a part-time service whose members are dispersed throughout Hong Kong.
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The service has attracted increasing international interest. Following a 1982 congress jointly sponsored by the United Nations, the International Civil Defence Organisation and the International Red Cross, Third World countries have expressed keen interest in Hong Kong's training of members of the public for civil aid roles. A United Nations' commission observed that many aspects of Hong Kong's Civil Aid Services - such as the techniques for involving people, their training, and the system of functioning in support of the government and other voluntary organisations - should be shared with other countries. For the future, the service is looking towards an alert, fully-prepared force of men and women ready to meet any disaster, and one which can disseminate an understanding of disaster prepared- ness to the public.
Auxiliary Medical Service
The Auxiliary Medical Service is a volunteer medical organisation with members trained and equipped to provide an essential service to the public, especially in times of emergency. It has a strength of nearly 5 800 volunteers of whom more than 1 000 are professionally qualified in medical, nursing, pharmaceutical or hospital administration services. The remainder, who are from all walks of life, are fully trained to a high level of proficiency in first aid, nursing and casualty handling.
Founded in 1950, the main role of the service is to augment the official medical and health services and the ambulance service of the Fire Services Department in any emer- gency. When necessary, members are called out to assist in treating victims on the spot, evacuating casualties, and manning dressing stations, casualty wards and convalescent
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