backCountry Report 2003

by Singapore Civil Defence ForceINTRODUCTION
1northSingapore is a city-state with a land surface area of 645 square kilometers located approximately 137 kilometresof the Equator. The population is about 3.7 million, with a multiracial mix of Chinese, Malay and Indians and aminority of others, supplemented by about half a million expatriates and foreign workers.

2asGeographically,
Singapore is just outside the 'Pacific Rim of Fire' and is thus spared from natural disasters such
earthquakes, typhoons and volcanic eruptions. The challenges for the emergency services, however, are in theform of preventing and mitigating man-made incidents disasters in a highly urbanised environment.

3network
Singapore's infrastructure includes one of the world's busiest airports, the busiest seaport and an extensiveof underground roadways. Land scarcity and high population density has made it necessary to house andlocate the population and businesses in tightly packed residential and commercial high-rise buildings. Mishaps thus
have a greater potential to inflict mass casualties and extensive destruction to properties. There is also the threatof disasters that could potentially occur in the chemical and petrochemical industries located at the brink of thecity-state. A major accident could have off-site impact on population centers. Recently, the threat of terrorism has
added a new dimension to emergency preparedness and response.

FOUNDATIONS OF EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS
4basedThe Emergency Preparedness Programmes and Disaster Management activities undertaken by Singapore areon the following main principles:-aof Prevention- Man-made disasters can be prevented. Their tragic consequences can be minimised through a set
comprehensive government regulations on fire and building safety. Regular fire safety enforcement inspections
are essential to ensure systems operational effectiveness and prevent human negligence.

bemergencies
Readiness - Readiness is contingent upon preparation. Pre-planning for possible response to different forms ofenhances readiness. The contingency plans are exercised regularly.
cimportance
Awareness - The community must be aware of the nature and scope of disasters. It has to be educated on theof emergency preparedness. The community must be involved in exercises, training and physicalpreparations.

dmulti-agency
Coordination - All agencies responding to an emergency must work within a unified framework to coordinate
efforts in emergency response and management of disasters and available expertise and resources
swiftly to the disaster site to maximise the chances of survival of the injured and to minimise damage toinfrastructure.

emanagement
Recovery - Restoration work and the rehabilitation of the injured is an important component of the total disasterprogramme. The speedy recovery of the affected population and the resilience of the emergency
forces will bring the area back to near-normal conditions.

EMERGENCY AUTHORITIES
5preparedness
The Ministry of Home Affairs is the principal policy and directing authority responsible for civil defence emergency
and disaster management. Under its command is the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF)

responsible for planning, coordinating and implementing the various programmes and activities. The SCDF is theleading authority that will coordinate the pre-planning activities and command and control all mitigating operations
during an incident. Some 18 other Ministries and Statutory Boards are also involved in supporting roles under aunified framework of Operation Civil Emergency.

LEGISLATION
6 The main laws supporting Singapore's emergency preparedness and disaster management activities are:-aThisTHEActCIVIL
DEFENCE ACT 1986
provides the legal framework for, amongst other things, the declaration of a state of emergency and themobilisation and deployment of operationally ready national service rescuers.

bThisFIREActSAFETY
ACT 1993
provides the legal framework to impose fire safety requirements on commercial and industrial premises, aswell as the involvement of the management and owners of such premises in emergency preparedness against fires.

cThisCIVIL
DEFENCE SHELTER ACT 1997
Act provides the legal framework for buildings to be provided with civil defence shelters for use by persons
needing to take refuge therein during a state of emergency.

ROLES AND FUNCTIONS
7emergency
The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) provides 24-hour swift and effective fire fighting, rescue andambulance services. Other functions include preparing and educating the population in emergency
preparedness, procedures and fire safety. The SCDF also enforces fire safety requirements for buildings and instorage and transportation of petroleum.

8byTheForce is also responsible for the provision of warning and protection against the effects of disasters and war
controlling and managing the Public Warning System (PWS) and Civil Defence shelters. In addition, the SCDF
conducts rescue operations to minimise the loss of lives and properties. To meet wartime requirements, National
Service Units are established, trained and equipped. These could be mobilised in times of need to augment theregular fire and rescue assets.

CONCEPT OF OPERATION
9Divisions
The SCDF operates with a 3-tier command and control structure with HQ SCDF at the apex commanding 4 Landsupported by a network of Fire Stations and Satellite Fire Posts strategically located over the island. The
concept of operation is based on a multi-tier response. The Operations Centre at HQ SCDF will dispatch thenearest resources to the incident. Additional resources from other fire stations could reinforce this first response if
the need arises. In a major incident, further reinforcements can be met by the Standby Unit and the recall of offduty fire fighters. National Service (NS) units such as Rescue Battalion, Heavy Plant Battalion, Medical Companyetc. will be mobilised.

INCIDENT MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
10SCDF has developed its capabilities on the need to react to a number of major incidents simultaneously. Major
scenarios that have been identified include:ab Oil
refinery fires and major industrial accident and explosions;
Mass Rapid Transit incidents, involving underground and overhead trains and cable-ways;
cd Maritime
incidents in the port area;
Chemical related incidents involving hazardous materials;
ef High-rise
Air Crash Incidents, both in populated and airport areas;
fire incidents;
g Building collapse
incidents.

These operations could also involve a full mobilisation and deployment of personnel and equipment from the National
Service operational units.

SPECIAL CAPABILITY
11SCDF has also established some special rescue capability, namely the Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team(DART), a specially trained unit that can undertake high-risk fire fighting and rescue operations. This includes deep

penetration, rescue in confined space, collapsed buildings and height rescue, and life detection for wide area search.

The DART is also the main component in the SCDF overseas contingent and is capable of rapid despatch for urban
search and rescue missions within the region.

12Hazardous Material Incident (HIT) Teams are strategically located in 4 fire stations. The HIT is adequately
trained and equipped to handle hazardous material (HAZMAT) incidents throughout Singapore.

PUBLIC WARNING AND PROTECTION
13Another significant role of SCDF is to provide early warning and adequate protection to the population in timesof national emergency. The SCDF has in place a Public Warning System (PWS) with an island wide network of morethan 240 outdoor sirens mounted strategically on high rise buildings.

14The implementation of CD Shelter Programme involves the construction of hardened shelters in the Mass Rapid
Transit (MRT) underground stations and new apartment buildings. Since 1997, all new residential developments musthave apartment shelters. This is an important milestone in our emergency preparedness and readiness.

FIRE SAFETY AND PREVENTION
15
The prevention of fires is a cornerstone strategy for SCDF to achieve its mission to protect and save lives andproperties. The SCDF formulates, implements and enforces fire safety regulations. This includes vetting of Buildingand M&E Plans submitted by the professionals, on-site inspections of building systems and enforcement checks on
the compliance of fire safety standards. To instil greater sense of fire safety culture in the industry, the Forcefocuses on programmes to educate professionals in areas of fire safety and engaging the professional bodies in the
introduction of self-regulation scheme for building plans.

PUBLIC EDUCATION
16Community involvement and participation in Civil Defence is essential to prepare the Nation to deal withemergencies. Since 1982, the SCDF has been reaching out to the various segments of the population with theobjectives of enhancing the awareness of the whole population in Civil Defence.

17Under the Civil Defence Public Education Programme, the SCDF aims to have at least one member of every
household trained in civil defence skills. In addition, emergency exercises in food, water and fuel rationing, bloodcollection and shelter occupation are conducted regularly to educate the public on emergency procedures andpreparedness.

INVESTMENT IN TRAINING AS THE WAY FORWARD
18SCDF places heavy emphasis on training to equip our personnel with the desired knowledge, competency, skills
and attitudes. The opening of the Civil Defence Academy in Mar 1999 marked a significant milestone in the historyof the Singapore Civil Defence Force. The Academy, with purpose-built features, meets the training needs ofregulars, national service personnel, emergency response personnel of the industries, fire fighters and rescuers fromother parts of the world.

19The training facilities in the Academy include the use of state-of-the-art simulators and modern communication
technology to make learning simpler, more interesting and more realistic.
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION
20 Over the past years, Singapore was involved in the following areas of co-operation in disaster management:a International Relations ProgrammeSingapore has an on-going exchange programme with a number of countries from the Asia-Pacific and Europe. The
various emergency authorities in Singapore, especially the Ministry of Home Affairs, the Singapore Civil Defence
Force and the Singapore Police Force meet their respective foreign counterparts from time to time to exchange
views and experiences on emergency preparedness and disaster management.

b Overseas Rescue Assistance

The Singapore Civil Defence Force has since assisted the Philippines in the Baguio Earthquake rescue operation in1990 and Malaysia in rescue operation in the collapse of the Highland Towers in Kuala Lumpur in 1993. Morerecently, the SCDF overseas rescue contingent assisted Taiwan in the Taiwan 921 Earthquake rescue operation in
September 1999. The Singapore Civil Defence Force's Overseas Rescue Contingent is listed with the United
Nation's International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (INSARAG) register as an international Search andRescue Team. Since April 1999, the Singapore Civil Defence Force registered two of its disaster management
experts to be part of the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) Team.

c Training

The Singapore Civil Defence Force deeply values the sharing of ideas, expert knowledge and technology in disasterprevention and management with its overseas counterparts and has ongoing programmes with countries in the AsiaPacific, Europe and the USA. Singapore is continuously learning from other countries and adopting suitable ideas foruse in its own local context, so as to constantly upgrade its mode of operation to tackle both old and newchallenges.
The Singapore Civil Defence Force also offers training courses, such as the Urban Search and Rescue Course, FireFighting and Hazmat Course and Emergency Behaviour Management Course, to its international partners. These
training are conducted with realism in the Civil Defence Academy, with its modern innovation like training simulatorsand facilities. To date, some 263 participants from 37 countries have attended courses at the Civil Defence
Academy.

CONCLUSION
21Singapore values public safety and security. It believes in being prepared to face major disasters so as toensure minimum losses and disruptions. It garners all efforts to promote and institutionalise emergency
preparedness among its people, while developing and exercising contingency plans for a wide range of foreseeable
disasters to be executed by various emergency agencies in close coordination. Where appropriate, it also learns
from the partners worldwide and shares its experience and rescue resources with nearby countries in need ofassistance.