ENG-2003 — Page 402

342

PUBLIC ORDER

The powers of Fire Services personnel to investigate the cause of fires have been strengthened under the Fire Services (Amendment) Ordinance 2003 and the Fire Services (Fire Hazard Abatement) Regulation, which take effect on January 1, 2004.

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 19 918 emergency special service calls in 2003. Among the major incidents attended was a traffic accident on July 10 in which a double-decker bus plunged 40 metres from Tuen Mun Road on to a hill slope at Ting Kau Village, killing 21 people and injuring 22 others. In another major incident, a Government Flying Service helicopter crashed on a hill slope at Pak Kung Pass, about 300 metres from Tung Chung Road, on August 26. The pilot and the crewman were killed.

Ambulance Services

The Ambulance Command handled 475 407 patients during the year, representing 1 302 patients per day. A total of 7 175 suspected or confirmed SARS cases were handled by ambulances during the outbreak of the disease.

The department is committed to developing paramedic ambulance services for the public. About 80 per cent of the ambulance fleet has been equipped and manned at paramedic level. All ambulances and paramedic motorcycles are equipped with automatic external defibrillators. A fourth Mobile Casualty Treatment Centre was acquired to enhance efficiency in handling incidents with multiple casualties.

The department has also sought to improve the survival rate of casualties and patients before their arrival at hospital. A pilot 'first-responder programme', which trained front-line firemen to provide basic life support to casualties and patients before the arrival of an ambulance crew, was introduced in September.

Communications

The Fire Services Communication Centre, manned round the clock, is responsible for mobilising all fire-fighting and ambulance resources for providing efficient and effective fire and ambulance services to the community. The centre is also responsible for receiving complaints about fire hazards and dangerous goods. It acts as an emergency coordinator for other government departments and public utilities in large- scale emergencies or major incidents.

In order to meet the projected growth of emergency calls over the next 10 years, a $445 million Third Generation Mobilising System is being developed to replace the current Second Generation Mobilising System. The cutover to the system is expected to start in August 2004, and be implemented in phases.

Fire Safety

The Community Relations Division under the Fire Safety Command is responsible for enhancing the public's knowledge of fire safety and for coordinating actions with other government departments and District Fire Safety Committees in stepping up fire prevention publicity in the community. In 2003, 1997 fire drills at various.