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Emergency Preparedness in Singapore
28 February 2023
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[📷] Ready Bag (SCDF Emergency Handbook)
How prepared are you for sudden emergencies? In Singapore, about 23,000 life-and-death cases were attended to by the Singapore Civil Defence Force annually, translating to over 60 calls a day!
The SCDF provides our nation with highly-trained forces well-equipped for life-saving operations, including fire-fighting, rescue and emergency medical services, mitigating hazardous materials incidents and civil defence shelter matters. The SCDF's operational capabilities is expanded with the Community Emergency Preparedness Programme, where members of the public develop core lifesaving skills and essential emergency procedures to keep our communities resilient in times of disasters or emergencies.
Every second counts in a life-threatening emergency, and we can all make a difference by knowing what to do. For a start, we could pick up first aid skills and have first-aid kits and ready bags at home. This information can be readily found in the SCDF’s emergency handbook. We can also help by signing up to be a Community First Responder (CFR).
Being trained in first aid is quintessential, and this can be seen in former Red Cross youth cadet, Sebastian Koo's story, as shared by the Singapore Red Cross. He was out for a movie with his friends at a suburban shopping mall in the afternoon when the mall’s ceiling suddenly gave way! Being trained, he calmly got his friends to evacuate other moviegoers, and administered first aid to an injured moviegoer.
Currently, there are about 120,400 CFRs which translates to about 1 CFR per 40 residents, and more CFRs are needed to strengthen the safety net for our community. We can sign up to be a CFR even if we are not yet trained in basic firefighting, first aid or CPR skills – we could help by assisting with crowd control or staying with the patient after receiving an alert on the #myResponder app.
All of us have a part to play in emergency preparedness. Together, we keep Singapore strong.
🔗 Read Sebastian Koo’s story: https://www.redcross.sg/news-stories/stories/964-trained-in-emergency-preparedness-adept-at-emergency-response.html?fbclid=IwAR0g4YsWKjiXohRDuSoSWhcViBPk3luFM-K9XEb8uliMKWOhRcHzyNm1D6I
🔗 Ninth edition of the SCDF’s Emergency Handbook: https://www.scdf.gov.sg/home/community-volunteers/publications/emergency-handbook