ENG-1989 — Page 196

HEALTH

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buried in public cemeteries are subject to exhumation after six years. The exhumed remains are then either cremated or re-interred in an urn cemetery.

The Urban Council operates one public funeral parlour in Kowloon which provides free funeral services for the needy. Two service halls at the Hung Hom Public Funeral Parlour are provided free of charge for public use as 'farewell pavilions'. In the urban areas there are five public cemeteries, two public crematoria and 18 private cemeteries. There are two war cemeteries under the management of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

The Regional Council manages three public crematoria, at Kwai Chung, Fu Shan and Wo Hop Shek. The first two are used for the cremation of dead bodies and the third solely for cremation of exhumed skeletal remains. Niches are provided at the columbaria in these three areas. The council also manages six public cemeteries, including the Wo Hop Shek Cemetery, the biggest public cemetery in use in Hong Kong, and oversees nine private cemeteries in the Regional Council area. The public cemetery at Mui Wo, named Lai Chi Yuen Cemetery, was opened for public use in the last quarter of 1988.

Auxiliary Medical Services

The role of the Auxiliary Medical Services (AMS) is to augment the services of the Department of Health, Hospital Services Department and Fire Services Department in times of natural disaster, civil disturbance, or other emergencies. In such situations, AMS resources would provide properly-trained personnel together with the necessary medical supplies and equipment for resuscitation and treatment for the injured on the spot, to convey casualties to hospitals, and to render nursing care to patients at acute and convalescent hospitals.

AMS is a medical civil defence organisation, funded by the government since 1950. By statutory requirement, the Director of Health is the Commissioner of the Auxiliary Medical Services and is responsible to the Governor for the efficient operation of the unit. Assisting him is a number of Deputy and Assistant Commissioners appointed in a voluntary capacity.

Volunteer members of AMS come from all walks of life and include doctors, nurses and paramedical personnel, in government or in private practice. Members undergo different categories of training including first-aid, footdrill, casualty handling, nursing, life saving, manning of ambulances, practical ward training, leadership development and management courses. The current establishment is 5 835 volunteers.

AMS also provides supplementary medical services to government agencies and departments for ambulance manning, life-guard duties, methadone centre clinical services and first-aid coverage. A total deployment of more than 729 800 man-hours was recorded for the report period.

AMS volunteers have devoted much of their time and knowledge to the manning of the camps and detention centres coping with the influx of Vietnamese boat people. AMS services have been fully stretched to provide 13 first-aid and medical posts in 11 of the

centres.

One of the responsibilities of AMS is to provide first-aid training for government servants, and in 1989 it trained 3 598 civil servants who successfully completed the basic first-aid courses.

District offices have now been set up by AMS in Kwun Tong and Ap Lei Chau to enhance operational efficiency and to provide local training facilities. Departmental headquarters and a training centre are being built at Ho Man Tin and should be completed by early 1991.