SINGAPORE – Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) officers can now conduct highly realistic scenario training at the Civil Defence Academy (CDA) in Jalan Bahar, following the completion of facilities at its field training area, which officially opened in July.
The new facilities include the Odyssey, which helps officers prepare for tunnel flooding, road traffic accidents and fires, while complex high-rise rescue scenarios can be simulated at the Edge.
New CDA facilities such as the Fire Research Centre and the National Emergency Medical Services Training Centre were also unveiled in July.
The Odyssey is a replica of an underground road tunnel.
There, firefighters and paramedics can practise rescue techniques such as extrication, vehicle stabilisation and mass casualty management in realistic environments and scenarios.
With many stretches of Singapore’s expressways – including the Kallang-Paya Lebar Expressway – built underground, the training can help condition SCDF officers for such contingencies.
In South Korea in December 2022, five people were killed and dozens more injured after a traffic accident caused a huge fire in an expressway tunnel on the outskirts of Seoul.
Speaking to the media on Friday, Paya Lebar Fire Station commander Fung Ka Kin said the new facilities “offer enhanced realism for both trainees and front-line emergency responders, and allow them to realistically practise firefighting and rescue skills in a safe and controlled environment”.
SCDF said road traffic accident scenarios can be replicated using scrapped vehicles, allowing officers to get hands-on practice with various extrication tools used during rescue operations.
Flood simulations at a segment of the Odyssey where vehicles can be submerged will also allow officers to train for flooding scenarios.
“With the flood waters... up to chest-deep, this creates a realistic platform for our officers to learn the proper methods to extricate a trapped victim in a submerged vehicle,” SCDF said.
Major Fung added: “With the completion of the new training facilities, SCDF responders are able to effectively acquire and maintain the competence and confidence required when responding to real-life emergencies.”
The Edge will allow the rescuers to practise manoeuvres in complex rescue operations and technical training for extrication procedures.
In 2021, SCDF’s elite Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Dart) rescued an injured construction worker who was stuck 70m above the ground in a crane at a Beach Road construction site. Officers had to climb the crane to set up a pulley system to lower the injured man to ground level.
Dart was also called on to rescue a worker trapped in midair at a Sentosa intra-island cable car site in 2014.
SCDF previously had to partner with the Mount Faber cable car line to hold cable car rescue drills. Now, the elite firefighters will be able to conduct more frequent high-rise training at CDA.
Major Kannan Selvaraj, rota commander for Dart, said: “Now, with the Edge, we have the flexibility to conduct complex height rescue training for our Dart personnel in a shorter period of time.”
Training includes height rappelling, rescuing people on a ledge, raising and lowering a stretcher using rope, rescuing a person trapped in a crane, and rescuing people trapped in a cable car.
