ENG-2018 — Page 324

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Public Order

defibrillators and selected drugs for conditions including diabetes, shock, heart attack, shortness of breath, convulsion, cardiac arrest, anaphylaxis and drug overdose. The Ambulance Command handled a daily average of 2,205 calls in 2018.

The department trains front-line firefighters to become first responders to provide basic life support to casualties and patients before the arrival of an ambulance crew. In 2018, first responders responded to 49,886 cases.

Communications

The 24-hour Fire Services Communications Centre mobilises all firefighting and ambulance resources to provide timely services. It also receives complaints about fire hazards and dangerous goods, and acts as an emergency coordinator for other government departments and public utilities during major emergencies. The centre provides post-dispatch advice to callers over the phone on more than 30 types of injuries and sicknesses, including burns, cardiac arrest, haemorrhage and childbirth, after dispatching ambulances. Callers receive immediate, comprehensive and appropriate advice to help stabilise patients based on their conditions before the ambulance crew arrives.

At the scene of an incident, a digital trunked radio system is used to ensure effective and efficient radio communication.

Fire Safety

The Fire Safety Command draws up fire safety policies and formulates fire safety measures for buildings and mass transit systems. It devotes much effort to upgrading fire safety in old buildings, initiating fire safety inspections and raising public awareness of emergency preparedness.

In 2018, the command vetted 17,852 building plans, including those for tunnels and bridges, handled 380 submissions such as building plans and fire engineering reports, and offered fire safety advisory services on 285 occasions concerning Hong Kong International Airport's Three- runway System.

On railway infrastructure projects, the command formulates fire safety requirements and recommendations, and scrutinises the associated consultancy study reports, building plans and technical drawings of fire service installations (FSI). In 2018, the command handled 2,771 submissions and carried out acceptance inspections of FSI at new railway projects, including the Hong Kong Section of the Guangzhou-Shenzhen-Hong Kong Express Rail Link and the East West Corridor of the Shatin to Central Link, and of alteration, addition and improvement works of the existing lines.

In October, the Community Emergency Preparedness Division was established under the command to draw up community emergency preparedness strategies on, among others, disaster preparedness, counterterrorism preparedness, fire safety and community life support, to raise awareness of emergency preparedness, strengthen the public's response capabilities in case of danger or emergencies such as natural disasters or terrorist attacks, and enhance their knowledge of fire prevention, cardiopulmonary resuscitation and the use of automated external defibrillators.

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