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THE ARMED SERVICES AND AUXILIARY SERVICES

a twin-engined Cessna Titan, a Britten-Norman Islander, two Scottish Aviation Bulldog trainers and three Aerospatiale Dauphin twin-engined helicopters. With an establishment of 83 permanent staff and 140 volunteers, including a self-sufficient engineering squadron, the force is able to operate round-the-clock for seven days a week during an emergency.

Helicopter crews, which are on stand-by day and night, responded to 227 requests for emergency medical evacuations and rescues during 1984. Some of these requests originated from the local fishing fleet of about 5 000 vessels, many of which now have equipment enabling them to call for assistance when necessary. Several search and rescue operations were successfully completed, involving both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft. During the dry season, helicopters dropped over 600 tonnes of water on bush and forest fires and areas inaccessible to conventional appliances.

The Royal Hong Kong Police Force and the Correctional Services Department made frequent use of helicopters for training and operational purposes. Helicopter flights were routinely provided to transport engineering staff to carry out maintenance and repair work at communications repeater stations on hilltops. About 5 500 government officers were flown to remote areas in the course of their work and there was a considerable increase in the number of official visitors from overseas who were shown the territory from the air.

The Cessna Titan and Britten-Norman Islander maintained regular offshore patrols to spot illegal immigrants and were also heavily employed in support of the Lands Depart- ment's continuing need for aerial survey, photography and map-making. The 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 with an establishment of 3 671 adults and 2 626 cadets. The population movement from the urban areas to the new towns has placed a demand on the service for additional units of adults and cadets to be established in the New Territories. New units have been formed in Sheung Shui, Tsing Yi and Sai Kung.

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 augmenting the regular services in coping with emergencies and disasters to assisting the police in crowd control at public events. With the setting up of the tactical force unit – a rapid mobilisation team of volunteers trained in heavy rescue the service is able to respond effectively, at short notice, to emergencies and disasters anywhere in the territory.

Two volunteers are sent to Australia every year for further training in counter disaster and mass rescue operations. This type of training proved its worth when Typhoon Ellen struck Hong Kong with devastating force in September 1983. During the passage of this typhoon, 850 members of the Civil Aid Services were called out on a wide range of emergency duties including the rescue of trapped people, road clearances and taking care of typhoon victims in temporary shelters.

The aim of the Cadet Corps is to foster a sense of civic responsibility and community aware- ness in youths aged over 12 but below 18, and to train them to act in a responsible and dis- ciplined manner and become good citizens in the future. Training courses organised for cadet members include rock climbing, orienteering, expeditions, basic mechanical and electrical engineering, first aid and light rescue. Courses on countryside preservation, basic fire-fighting, crowd control and road safety are also conducted for cadets in order to equip them with the requisite knowledge to perform community services. They are also encouraged to take part in the Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme. Seven cadets qualified for Gold Awards in 1984.