SCDF introduces Emergency SMS feature

SINGAPORE - More fire calls were made in the first half of this year despite a drop in fires at residential premises.

The Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) which released its mid-year statistics this morning (Aug 20) at a press conference, revealing that it has responded to 2,532 fires this year - an increase of 407 cases (or 19.2%) from 2,125 fires over the same period last year.

The SCDF said the increase is “largely attributed to a rise in vegetation fires as a result of the dry season”. There is a significant increase in vegetation fires from 104 cases last year to 529 cases this year.

Meanwhile, there were 1,493 fires in the residential premises this year, a 3.1 per cent drop from 1, 541 fires last year.

The SCDF’s Emergency Medical Services also responded to more ambulance calls this year. A total of 76, 063 ambulance calls were made this year, a marginal increase of 39 calls (or 0.1 per cent), as compared to last year with 76,024 ambulance calls.

The SCDF also officially announced an Emergency Short Messaging Service (SMS) feature specially catered for people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing or those who have a speech impairment (DHS). The SMS feature was initially piloted in July. Members of the DHS community can use their mobile phone to send an SMS to 70995 to inform the SCDF of emergencies, such as a fire or a medical emergency that require a fire engine or an SCDF emergency ambulance.

To use the service, a member of the DHS community must register with any of the three organsations: The Singapore Association for the Deaf (SADeaf), TOUCH Community Services (Silent Club) or SG Enable.