Transforming the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) is important as it deals with the needs of an ageing population, said Mrs Josephine Teo, Minister for Manpower and Second Minister for Home Affairs yesterday. She highlighted recent moves such as the tiered response system for Emergency Medical Services. Since April, the SCDF has stopped sending non-emergency cases to hospital. Mrs Teo was speaking at the SCDF Parade and Singapore-Global Firefighters and Paramedics Challenge, where teams pit their operational skills, fitness and teamwork against one another. She said that the SCDF will provide Community First Responders with personal accident insurance coverage by mid-December to ensure that they are well taken care of. Mrs Teo noted: “Transformation is important in the light of our ageing population. Medical needs will rise, straining our emergency medical services, while SCDF increasingly faces manpower constraints. SCDF will need to do more with less.”
