Saturday, 9 September 2006
Launch of SCDF Community Bonding Day 2006

In conjunction with the Homefront Security Month, the first of the four SCDF Community Bonding Days was held on Saturday, 9 Sept 2006, from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm at the brand new 3rd CD Division HQ cum Yishun Fire Station at No. 533 Yishun Industrial Park A. This event was launched by Associate Professor Ho Peng Kee, Senior Minister of State for Law and Home Affairs at 11.00 am.

Jointly organised by the SCDF and the Civil Defence Executive Committees (CDECs), The Community Bonding Day is a fun-filled platform where members of public can get to know more about the Life-Saving Force and pick up valuable emergency skills and knowledge. It is organised for the first time at the heartlands (at the four Division HQs) to make learning more convenient and accessible for everyone.

The Community Bonding Day is free-of-charge for the public. To make the trip a hassle-free one, free shuttle service is provided between Yishun MRT Station and 3rd CD Division event venue from 8.45 am to 5.00 pm at 20 minutes interval.

Themed "Readiness is OUR only Protection", the event promises a wide range of exciting activities to engage, enthrall and educate both the young and old. Highlights of the event include:

Experiential Challenges
Adventurous participants can take on the Fire-fighting, Breathing Apparatus or Hazmat Challenges to experience adrenaline pumping task of saving 'casualties' or mitigating chemical spillage. There are also opportunities for visitors to try out the water mist gun and the impulse gun.

1. At the Fire-fighting Challenge, participants will wear the complete set of a fire-fighter’s protective suit- known as bunker gear - that includes the fire jacket, leggings, fire boots and helmet and go through a series of challenging tasks. They will surely feel the adrenaline rush in them as they race against time to perform specific tasks such as the firemen lift, evacuation of casualty and even fight a mock-up fire. But don’t worry, as your safety is assured by the presence of the alert and vigilant safety officers.
   
2. Over at the Breathing Apparatus Challenge, besides putting on the complete fire-fighting gear, participants have to also don the Breathing Apparatus set (BA set). The combined weight of the fire-fighting gear and the BA set can come up to about 20 kg! They will then tackle a series of obstacles, such as crawling through a tunnel and evacuating casualties.
   
3. The last station in this zone is the Hazmat Challenge. Participants will feel the heat as they put on the Light Decon Suit or LDS and roll up water hose. They will experience being a 'Hazmat Specialist' as they perform wet decontamination for victims and mitigate chemical leakage using overpak drums.

Static Display of Emergency Vehicles / Joy-Ride
Visitors can gain an insight to SCDF’s operational capabilities through the display of its main operational prowess, such as the Red Rhino, Ambulance and Personnel Decontamination Vehicle. There will also be vertical joy ride on aerial vehicles – definitely not for the faint-hearted.

Operational Display
SCDF personnel will also treat the visitors to an exciting operational display that includes rappelling from height, Hazmat rescue demonstration and rescue dogs show. SCDF personnel will treat the visitors to exciting operational displays. Members of the SCDF’s elite team – DART (Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team) will rappel down from a 7-storey hose tower using a variety of rappelling techniques, which include Australian rappel, Buddy rappel and head on Spiral rappel. The DART members often have to rappel down buildings when conducting height rescue, such as during an attempted suicide situation.

The rescue dogs will also plunge into action to demonstrate their search capability in locating hidden 'casualties'. Public who are keen can also pose with the dogs for pictures. These rescue dogs have been deployed for several search operations, including the Nicoll Highway Cave-in incident as well as overseas rescue missions to Thailand during the Asian Tsunami and Indonesia during the Central Java Earthquake.

In the last segment of the display, SCDF personnel will response to a Chemical Agent release scenario to mitigate the Chemical Agent source and conduct snatch rescue of casualties. During the live demonstration, the Hazmat Specialists will don the High Performance Suit – a fully encapsulated chemical resistant suit that provides the maximum protection for the responder against inhalation and absorption of the harmful chemical. The safety protection allows the Hazmat responders to get very close to the source of chemical agent to conduct mitigation. The show times are 11.00 am and 2.00 pm.

Stage Performance & Fun Fair
During the stage performance, the public can also look forward to entertaining magic show, Fire Safety Skit Competition as well as performances by Ai Tong Primary School and Kuo Chuan Presbyterian. Spectacular stage performances will be held at the Multi Purpose Hall from 11am to 1pm. Entertaining programmes have been arranged for the visitors including:

1. Magic show
2. Fire-safety Skit Show by CHIJ St. Nicholas Girls’ School
3. Modern dance performance by Ai Tong Primary School
4. Guzheng performance by Kuo Chuan Presbyterian
5. Unique Musical CPR, a creation of SCDF’s very own paramedics
   
   

The fun fair-like event also promises fun for the kids with the inflated 'Super Bounce', balloon sculpting, art competition and 'joy lift' by the aerial vehicle. The adults are not left out either; there will be 10 stalls comprising games, food and souvenirs.

Redemption Card
Each visitor will be issued with a "Redemption Card" upon arrival. He or she will be required to visit and collect at least 4 stamps by participating in any of the activities at the Hands-on Station to qualify for a gift (while stocks last). The redemption gift is an attractive and unique Carabena Pen with an attached compass.

Hands On Station
The 5 exciting activities that visitors can choose from at the Hands-on Station include:

6. Conduct In-Place Protection procedure by sealing up a room and prevent 'toxic' gas from entering;
7. Perform CPR on a dummy and check instantly if they pass the test through the result slip generated;
8. Try out the impactful Impulse Gun and high-tech Water Mist Gun and understand how these innovations help fire-fighters cut down water damage to property;
9. Find out how simple it is to operate a fire extinguisher in just 4 simple steps – Pull, Aim, Squeeze and Sweep (PASS); or
10. Learn dressing of wounds and other first-aid which may come in handy during an emergency.