Metro

Tuesday December 1, 2009

Squad trained for rescue missions


AS PART of the MPSJ’s Rescue Squad, Rizaeryan Mohd Kayat has helped in several rescue operations, but one he felt was most challenging involved an overturned vehicle in Subang Jaya.

“Two men were involved in last month’s accident where their vehicle flew off the road and landed on a railway track,” said the 27-year-old who has been with the squad for eight months.

“One of the victims weighed more than 150kg so it was difficult to get him out to safety and carry him up a 75° bank.

“He was having difficulty breathing, so we had to carry him while he was seated upright, and not lying down,” said Rizaeryan.

In the storeroom: Iskandar Khamis, one of the MPSJ Rescue Squad team leaders, taking out life jackets and floats necessary for a floodrescue operation.

“It took about nine people to form a human chain and carry him up carefully.”

Rizaeryan is among the 38-strong MPSJ Rescue Squad, a team that is dedicated to providing rescue assistance in cases of flood, fire, landslide and other emergencies.

All the members have undergone a two to three-month training course with the Selangor Fire and Rescue Services Department, including learning how to handle rescue missions as well as administer first aid and CPR.

The squad is attached to the MPSJ Hotline Unit, which operates round-the-clock.

They work in teams, with nine-hour shifts on weekdays and 12-hour shifts on weekdays and public holidays.

Each team comprises a coordinator and workers, who are on stand-by to help in management and operations relating to disasters.

On the procedures, Iskandar Khamis, who is one of the team leaders, said: “Once we get a call, we determine the location and assemble all the equipment and officers on duty.

“In the case of a flood, the equipment we need are life jackets, floats, a boat and engine, oars, first-aid kit and rope,” said Iskandar, 29, who has been a member since the rescue squad was established two years ago.

“We then load the equipment into our two vehicles — a pick-up truck and an ‘e-response’ van — head to the site and carry out our respective duties.

“We will help transfer the victims to a safer place, like an evacuation centre, and help other agencies in distributing food aid and blankets.”

Iskandar said the squad was also sent to assist rescue operations in the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide and collapse of the former Jaya Supermarket building.

Ramli Mohd Noor, one of the squad’s most senior members, said the most common calls they get were about fallen trees, which they would cut immediately if the situation posed a danger.

The 54-year-old once helped to catch a cobra from a house in Serdang.

“The house was occupied by a group of female students and they were screaming hysterically upon discovering the snake. I just used a metal bar and rope to catch the 2m-long snake,” said Ramli.

MPSJ president Datuk Adnan Md Ikshan said the rescue squad was meant to help other agencies and offer quicker response in rescue work, and not the primary authority that the public contacts in an emergency.

“When we get calls from the public, we will inform the relevant authorities such as the fire brigade, and provide them with the necessary backup,” he said.

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