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The Civil Aid Service
(CAS) is a government auxiliary emergency
service established under the Civil Aid
Service Ordinance. It has an establishment
of 3 634 adult members, 3 232
cadets and 112 civil servants.
The primary duty of
the CAS is to provide civil support services
during emergencies. Members of the service
are trained to perform emergency duties
during typhoons, flooding and landslips;
search for and rescue people in distress
in mountains; help evacuate or rescue
victims trapped under collapsed buildings
or buried in landslips and combat vegetation
fires and oil pollution at sea. In 2005,
CAS members were mobilised for two flood
rescue operations, 57 mountain search-and-rescue
duties, and 19 vegetation fire-fighting
operations.
Soon after the tsunami
disaster in South Asia on December 26,
2004, the CAS joined the Hong Kong Support
Team which was sent almost immediately
to Phuket to assist affected Hong Kong
residents. A total of 22 CAS staff and
members took turns to serve with the Hong
Kong Support Team over a period of 25
days. During the WTO Hong Kong Ministerial
Conference in December, the CAS was mobilised
to stand by for possible emergency duties
and assist the Hong Kong Police in crowd
management. The CAS served a total of
3 600 man-shifts during the conference.
Service members continued
to patrol hiking trails and country parks
on Sundays and public holidays to assist
picnickers in case of need. During the
dry season, members were on standby for
fire-fighting duties. During the year,
the service also assisted in crowd management
at 193 public events and at the Lo Wu
Border Control Point with a daily deployment
of 35 members. The CAS endeavours to
develop leadership potential and cultivate
civic awareness among youngsters by recruiting
youths in the 12 to 17 age group into
the CAS Cadet Corps. Apart from participating
in recreational activities, the cadets
are trained in a wide variety of disciplines
and skills including foot drill, basic
emergency rescue, printing and binding,
fibreglass moulding and rock climbing.
Cadets aged over 13 are also encouraged
to take part in crowd management at major
community events and in hiking trail and
country park patrols. |