SPEECH BY COMR ERIC YAP, COMMISSIONER SCDF AT THE SCDF
WORKPLAN SEMINAR 2015 AT ITE COLLEGE EAST CONVENTION
CENTRE AUDITORIUM ON 17 APRIL 2015
Mr. S Iswaran, Minister in Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Home
Affairs & Trade and Industry,
Distinguished Guests,
Home Team Colleagues,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Good afternoon and welcome to the SCDF’s Workplan Seminar 2015.
INTRODUCTION
I thank everyone for your presence this afternoon, and in particular, our
Second Minister, Mr S Iswaran for gracing the occasion and delivering the
keynote address. Thank you, Sir.
2.
I would also like to thank ITE College East for allowing SCDF the use of
their excellent facilities. This is the third time we have held our Workplan
Seminar here and it is indeed a testament of the strong partnership between the
college and SCDF.
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3.
The earlier video outlined the key SCDF’s achievements in the past year
and these would not have been possible without the support from our Ministry,
related agencies, volunteers and community partners whom are represented in
the audience. I wish to extend my appreciation to all for your continued, strong
support.
RECAP OF VISION 2025
4.
At last year’s workplan, I had briefly shared about SCDF’s vision to build
“A Nation of Lifesavers” by 2025. Central to this vision is the strong belief that
everyone can be a lifesaver in an emergency situation. And emergency
assistance can be rendered more effectively through a collaborative approach
between SCDF and the Community. I am pleased to report that our
transformation journey has successfully taken off, guided by the transformation
blueprint that we have chartered.
THREE STRATEGIC OUTCOMES TO SUPPORT TRANSFORMATION
EFFORTS
5.
As we journey towards our transformation vision, we shall be harnessing
technology to develop new capabilities and infuse it across the full spectrum of
SCDF’s operations and work processes. We will reposition SCDF’s operational
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model, streamline our structure, and optimize our manpower resources towards
that of a high performance organization. We also have to bring our partnership
with the community to a new level. Thus, our theme for this year’s workplan
“Transforming Capabilities; Building a Nation of Life Savers” aptly reflects
our bold 2025 vision.
6.
There are three strategic outcomes underpinning this theme and SCDF
transformation efforts - First, Sharpening of SCDF’s Operational Edge;
Second, to Enable and Empower the Community; and third, to
Institutionalise Safety and Public Protection. Our Guest-of-Honour, Minister
Iswaran, had earlier outlined the broad directions for SCDF to strengthen its
approaches in these three areas. I shall, over the next 15 minutes, elaborate on
the key initiatives under each of these outcomes.
STRATEGIC OUTCOME 1 – SHARPEN OPERATIONAL EDGE
Strengthening Fire Fighting Capabilities
7.
SCDF will continue to strengthen its operational capabilities to achieve
operational excellence. On the infrastructural front, a few new developments will
be added to the existing island-wide network of 20 fire stations and 29 fire posts.
For instance, the construction for Sentosa Fire Station has already commenced
and it is expected to be operational by next year. A new fire station will be built in
Kallang by 2018 while Jurong Fire Station will be relocated in 2017 to improve
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SCDF’s response coverage. These new developments will enable SCDF to
maintain a high level of operational readiness and swift emergency response.
8.
SCDF’s marine firefighting capability development is also making good
progress as planned. The new Marine Command HQ and Brani Marine Fire
Station are operational since 2014. Our fleet of 5 new vessels will come into
operation in phases starting from end next year till 2018. Meanwhile, many of
the Unit’s personnel have attained or are acquiring their steersman and
helmsman qualifications to pilot the new boats including a 50m full CBR
protected vessel.
HazMat Response
9.
And speaking of CBR response, I am pleased to share that SCDF’s
HazMat consequence management capability has been raised a level higher.
Our latest HazMat Control Vehicle is equipped with a range of advanced
detection, monitoring and mapping capabilities to support incident management.
The vehicle is on display and I invite everyone to view it afterwards.
Enhancing Pre-Hospital Emergency Care
10.
On the EMS front, the increasing call load will continue to be a challenge.
Last year, we responded to over 155,000 cases – a rise of about 4% over 2013
and this has been the trend over the years. Our fleet of emergency ambulances
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will be increased in phases to meet the projected call increase and by 2018,
SCDF will have a total fleet of 80 operational ambulances, up from 50 presently.
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Apart from increasing our fleet, SCDF will also be investing in the training
of our paramedics to raise their professional competencies. For example,
programmes such as degree in Biomedical Engineering, advanced diploma in
Paramedicine, technical diploma in Paramedic & Emergency Care, and
upskilling to Paramedic Level 4 are some of the professional training that will
soon be introduced. Overall, this initiative will enable our paramedics to better
manage patients especially those with multiple chronic illnesses in an
emergency.
12.
Ladies and gentlemen, I shared at Workplan 2013 that SCDF was
embarking on cross-training our Fire Response Specialists as Emergency
Medical Technicians (EMTs). Two years on, we now have 128 EMTs in the EMS.
By 2017, some of these EMTs will be deployed back to fire & rescue response
and they shall be attending to certain categories of medical emergencies in fire
engines, Red Rhinos or the all-new Fire-Medical Vehicle which will be developed
in this new workyear. This response model is designed to better serve the public.
Improving Crisis Management Capability
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Critical to sharpening our operational edge is improving our crisis
management capability and readiness through training and exercises. This year,
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we will be doing both in a big way. First, the Home Team Tactical Centre (HTTC)
will be opened in a few months time and training realism for SCDF officers will
be brought to a new level. Just to provide everyone a glimpse of what I mean,
the 5-storey chemical complex offers 15 simulation points of varying complexity
similar to what an industrial plant incident would pose to our responders. The
ship simulator is a 38m, 4 deck structure equipped with 15 simulator points to
depict the types of fire scenarios that can occur in commercial ships. As for
Urban Search & Rescue (USAR) training, the height, tunnel, flood, and
collapsed building scenarios are in the offing.
14.
Minister had earlier mentioned about Exercise Northstar 9. Northstar is a
codename we use for national level civil emergency exercise involving a multiagency response. The exercise is planned for 9th May at the Singapore Sports
Hub and its immediate vicinity, and it will be based on a multiple terror attack
scenario. The exercise is meant to stress-test plans and systems and, more
importantly, reinforce the necessity of vigilance by everyone to safeguard our
safety and security.
Embracing Innovation
15.
Many would know that the spirit of innovation runs deep in SCDF and
there are good reasons for it. First, our operating terrain is unique with
intertwined risks even in seemingly simple operations and sometimes, off-the6
shelve solutions are inadequate. Second, solutions from a practitioner’s
perspective often deal with issues more effectively. This is what that had guided
us when we developed the latest 4G Red Rhino and adapted the UFM to tackle
the unique risks of our city.
16.
The 4G Red Rhino is in fact the world’s first compact, urban fire-fighting
vehicle equipped with a fully integrated Compressed Air Foam or CAF System.
The CAF is a superior fire-fighting technology that uses 70% less water while
extinguishing fire four times faster than water. The UFM has proven its mettle in
several factory fires as seen in the earlier video and now we have adapted it with
a rail kit to deal with fires in tunnel which can be extremely perilous as seen in
several overseas incidents. Both these innovations are amongst our exhibits this
afternoon.
Improving Capabilities In Sense-making
17.
In incident management, sense-making will enable effective mitigation
strategies to be taken swiftly and technology must be leveraged to its full
potential. SCDF’s test-bedding of UAVs in our operations to provide real-time
remote aerial detection of potential threats, such as fire spread or extend of
Hazmat spillage is an example. The outcome we are working towards is to have
images from various sources and incident related information including those
gleaned from social media stitched, analysed and captured at our Operations
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Centre, Forward Command Vehicles, and mobile devices to provide
commanders with a coherent perspective of the situation at hand.
18.
In the area of fire safety, SCDF is working with a partner to develop a
system based on advanced image processing and pattern recognition
techniques to detect the presence of fire or smoke at its source. This translates
to quicker detection and alert on fire outbreaks as compared to standard fire
safety systems and potentially, such fires could be mitigated early. If successful,
this technology may be adopted by commercial and industrial premises. As a
working term, we have aptly named the project as FAST – Fire and Smoke
Telecamera.
Disaster Management Training
19.
I touched on paramedic training and the new HTTC as a venue to train
our fire & rescue specialists earlier. At a more strategic level, SCDF is partnering
New Zealand’s University of Canterbury to develop our Civil Defence Academy
(CDA) into a centre of excellence for executive leadership in disaster
management training. Under this collaboration, a joint graduate diploma
programme in Emergency Management and Urban Search and Rescue would
be offered. This initiative is expected to enhance the development of our officers,
deepen our engagement with disaster management leaders in the region and
bolster the credentials of CDA as a leading institution and thought-leader in the
field of disaster management. The 1st Leadership in Disaster Management
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Programme was successfully held at CDA last month and it was attended by 23
participants from 14 countries globally.
20.
The training of our ORNSmen is equally vital as they are a critical force to
reinforce our active personnel in the event of any major disaster. On this, we
started last year to raise the competency level of new Rescue Battalions to the
UN INSARAG ‘Medium’ standard. This year, we will form a dedicated training
outfit comprising ORNSmen to work alongside our active personnel for ORNS
Units training. In addition, our fire station ORNS personnel will be deployed at
fire stations all-year round to respond to daily incidents alongside active
personnel to keep current their professional skills.
STRATEGIC OUTCOME 2 – TO ENABLE AND EMPOWER THE COMMUNITY
21.
Let me now touch on our second Strategic Outcome which is to enable
and empower the community. The fact of the matter is that SCDF cannot be as
fast to the scene as the persons who are already there. And if they know what to
do, incipient fires are unlikely to develop; a cardiac arrest patient would have
better chance of survival; and if it is an emergency of disproportionate scale, we
are unlikely to have serious injuries as people would know how to get out of
harm’s way.
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22.
Thus, educating and equipping the community with vital emergency
preparedness knowledge and skills will continue to be the thrust of SCDF’s
community engagement. In addition, SCDF will facilitate the establishment of
supporting infrastructure and systems needed to enable and empower these
trained personnel to come forth and render emergency first response prior to
SCDF’s arrival at scene.
Home Team Neighbourhood Active Responder (NEAR) Programme
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An example would be the Home Team Neighbourhood Active Responder
(NEAR) Programme which was launched as a pilot initiative last month in both
Tampines East and Tampines West constituencies. The programme involves
community volunteers as active responders for emergencies in their
neighbourhood. Upon activation, these volunteers will respond on their bicycles
equipped with a first-aid kit, AED, fire extinguishers and smoke evacuation
hoods. Training is provided by SCDF, SPF and PA. We are encouraged by the
volunteers’ spirit and are confident of the value-add they would bring to their
respective communities in safety and security.
MyResponder Mobile App
24.
Minister earlier spoke about the “Save-a-Life” initiative which involves
having accessible AEDs in public places including residential estates which
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anyone could easily reach to aid a cardiac arrest victim. To complement this,
SCDF is working with the Singapore Heart Foundation to set up a national online
AED registry that lists out the locations of AEDs at public places on a smart
phone mobile app. On this, I am happy to announce that this Registry of AEDs is
now available for downloading on your smart phones. It is accessible through
the “MyResponder” app which will be launched officially at the exhibition after
this seminar. I encourage those of you who are trained in CPR and AED, to
download the app, register yourself as a Community First Responder, and be a
lifesaver when called upon.
STRATEGIC OUTCOME 3 – TO INSTITUTIONALISE SAFETY AND PUBLIC
PROTECTION
25.
Let me move to our third Strategic Outcome – “To Institutionalise Safety
and Public Protection”. Essentially, SCDF aims to reinforce and infuse the
concept of fire prevention and public protection across the nation through
regulatory frameworks, and more importantly, initiatives from the industry and
wider community.
Formalisation of CERT
26.
The Company Emergency Response Team, or CERT was first introduced
in 2005 for industries dealing with large quantities of petroleum and flammables.
Early intervention by CERTs prior to the arrival of SCDF has proved to be
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effective in preventing incident escalation and injury to occupants. This led to the
extension of the CERT scheme to include Public and Industrial Buildings since
1st April this year. For building premises that do not come under this requirement,
we encourage them to consider establishing a CERT and SCDF would be happy
to provide the necessary guidance to assist in the initiative in accordance with
the national CERT standard.
Study on Occupants’ Behaviour during a Fire
27.
I am certain everyone appreciates the importance of fire safety be it at
workplace, areas of recreation and certainly, in our homes. The ability to safely
escape in the event of a fire can never be overstated. Thus, an important aspect
of fire safety in buildings is the effective design of fire escape routes. While
travel distance must remain a key consideration, SCDF will be undertaking a
study in the new workyear to understand how other factors such as heuristics
may be worthwhile to consider in the design of fire escapes to be intuitive to
enhance occupant safety.
CONCLUSION
28.
Ladies and gentlemen, with many new programmes and initiatives in the
pipeline, we envisage a busy yet exciting year ahead for SCDF and our partners.
While we are eagerly looking forward to the future, we have certainly not
forgotten the journey our pioneers took to bring SCDF to where we are today.
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Some of them are in the audience this afternoon. We honour and thank them for
the hard work.
29.
Finally, I would like to end my presentation with a 2-minute tribute video
capturing the key moments as SCDF remembers our first founding Prime
Minister, the late Mr Lee Kuan Yew, during the period of state mourning. Mr Lee
will be remembered for transforming Singapore from a third world to a developed
nation. But for SCDF officers, perhaps what is even closer to our hearts was the
decision to integrate the then Singapore Fire Service and Civil Defence in 1989,
when Mr Lee was the PM, to form the present day SCDF. We have since grown
from strength to strength and will certainly do our part to keep Singapore a safe,
secure, and best home for all, just as what Mr Lee had sought to do in his
lifetime.
Thank You.
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