When Police Constables Mok Tat-shing, Yip Bing-tung and Tsui Tai-man arrived at the scene after receiving a call, they assessed the situation, took control and attended to the injured primary six student. Recalled PC Tsui: "The poor boy was lying on the ground in a state of shock. His right foot was seriously cut - it was only linked to his leg by the skin. So we immediately relayed the seriousness of the injury to the police console and told them to hasten the arrival of an ambulance." Awaiting the ambulance, two of the officers comforted the boy, while PC Mok rushed to a fast food shop opposite the school where he obtained three bags of ice cubes which he carried back to the scene. The officers then placed the ice around the foot. "Our first aid training has taught us that in a case like this when a part of the body has been severed, the separated part should be kept on ice to preserve it until it can be reattached by surgeons," said PC Tsui. "But it is important that the body part not come into direct contact with the ice." The young Canossion Primary School student was soon rushed to the hospital where his foot was successfully reattached, and after five subsequent operations he is in the process of hopefully recovering almost full use of it. Regarding the traffic situation at the accident scene, all three police constables said that even though the traffic on the road is not heavy, because there are no traffic lights they suggested the school consider setting up a traffic safety team to monitor students crossing the road - especially after school when their numbers have the potential of spilling off the sidewalks onto the road. "Children should also be alert at all times when crossing any road," they said. | ||||||
 Hong Kong Police officers help residents trapped by the fire escape their ordeal |
 Photos courtesy Apple Daily |
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RECENTLY there have been a rash of fires in buildings in Hong Kong, highlighting not only the lack of adequate escape routes and adherence by building owners to fire regulations, but also the bravery, determination and selfless actions of beat patrol police officers (who often arrive on the scene before fire-fighters) to save the lives of others. Four such Hong Kong Police officers were praised by DC Central District Mike Francis and further complimented by the RC HKI, for rescuing residents of a burning building on Peel Street in Central. Inspector Wong Wang-yip, Station Sergeant Wan Chi-chung, Sergeant Chan Wah-hing and Police Constable Chan Sze-kai, responding to their beat radios, converged on the scene of a burning building in the Lan Kwai Fong area. The fire had started in a kerosene stove in a kitchen on the third floor of the five-story residential building with the resulting smoke quickly spreading to the upper floors. When the police officers arrived, escaping residents told them that they had seen a man on the fourth floor whose exit was blocked by the impenetrable black smoke billowing up the building's only staircase. To assess the situation further, Station Sergeant Wan, who has served with the police for over 25 years, climbed up scaffolding on the facade of the adjacent building and spotted the man in question - but also a small boy, a young girl and a domestic helper by the window of the flat. After quickly assessing the situation, the station sergeant climbed up and over to the cement canopy that encased the window, offered words of comfort and encouragement to the distressed occupants, then proceeded to help the children and the domestic helper climb out onto the canopy. "I decided to take the children out first because they were most at risk of suffocating from the smoke," recalled Station Sergeant Wan. "Fortunately they kept calm and followed my instructions." Meanwhile, Inspector Wong, Sergeant Chan and Police Constable Chan who had been controlling the crowd at the scene and helping with the orderly evacuation of the building's residents, made their way to the rooftop of the adjacent building and inched near enough to the canopy where SSgt Wan and the victims were perched to hand them some relief in the form of wet towels to help filter out the smoke and make their breathing easier. Then, with the help of his colleagues, SSgt Wan started moving the children and amah to the upper floors until they reached the safety of the rooftop of the adjacent building - the only way out. "We had much difficulty pulling them up to the roof," recalled Sergeant Chan Wah-hing. "The temperature at the scene was extremely hot and the smoke was very thick. As it turned out, the 10-year-old boy was really heavy and I think everybody was exhausted." Also impeding the rescue was a lack of any lighting equipment and, of course, illegal structures and junk strewn all over the rooftop. By now members of the Fire Services Department (who were prevented by its narrowness from entering the street with their fire engine and extension ladders), had arrived at the scene and helped to rescue the trapped man. Eventually everyone was saved. Later that evening, the four officers celebrated the rescue with a late dinner. All of them agreed that it was one of the most rewarding experiences of their professional lives. | |
