ENG-2001 — Page 412

PUBLIC ORDER

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The department responded to 44 564 fire calls, 21 257 special service calls and 540 976 ambulance calls in 2001, representing an average of 1 662 calls a day.

To further enhance the department's search and rescue capabilities in major incidents and natural calamities, 12 Special Rescue Squads (SRS) were formed in 2000 and 2001. All SRS members have undergone a stringent training course in the application of specialised equipment and skills to handle disastrous incidents such as earthquakes, landslides, flooding and tunnel fires as well as to carry out mountain rescues. The SRS are strategically deployed in 12 land-based fire stations. An SRS will be dispatched to accompany a rescue tender if required in any incident.

Fire Suppression

Of the 44 564 fire calls received in 2001, 21 were classified as major fires of No. 3 alarm and above. Careless handling or disposal of smoking materials was still the major cause of fires, totalling 3 749 cases in all, followed by accidents involving the preparation of foodstuffs and electrical faults, which accounted for 2 668 and I 112 cases, respectively. Unwanted alarms, caused mainly by faulty automatic alarm systems or poor positioning of such systems, contributed to about 66 per cent of the total number of fire calls.

In 2001, fires claimed 32 lives and 468 persons, including 14 Fire Services members, were injured. Fire Services personnel rescued 3 881 people. A notable fire during the year was a No. 4 alarm blaze on February 21 in a bakery factory in Sham Tseng, in which 135 persons were rescued.

Special Services

The department also provides a wide range of rescue services in incidents such as traffic accidents, people trapped in lifts or locked in rooms, gas leakages, house collapses, flooding, landslides, industrial accidents and attempts by people to jump from a height. The department handled 21 257 emergency special service calls in 2001. Major incidents included two search and rescue operations: one on August 28 in Sai Kung for an off-duty fireman who perished while attempting to rescue a drowning teenager; and another on October 29 in Yau Tong following the collapse of an industrial building under demolition, in which six workers were killed and eight were injured.

Ambulance Services

The demand for emergency ambulance services continued to rise. During the year, ambulances answered 484 501 emergency calls, representing an increase of 5.4 per cent compared with 2000.

A 12-minute response time has been adopted as the performance indicator for emergency ambulance services since November 1998. All ambulances and ambulance aid motorcycles have been equipped with automatic external defibrillators.

In order to enhance the quality of ambulance services, the department has completed a consultancy study on further development and will take forward an implementation plan to provide paramedic ambulance care on ambulances in three years' time. The department also strengthened the application of intubation skills and advanced protocols to enhance the pre-hospital resuscitation service for patients in critical condition. An additional Mobile Casualty Treatment Centre has been