Fire unleashes exemplary passion and professionalism
13 August 2016
Every summer I grasp the time during the recess of the Legislative Council to pay more visits to frontline workers and social welfare service organisations. My aim is to keep my fingers on the pulse of the grassroots and the frontline as well as to boost the morale of colleagues and fellow workers of partner organisations whose quiet contribution is of paramount importance.
This year I started my “summer tour” with the Licensing Office of Residential Care Homes for the Elderly (LORCHE) of the Social Welfare Department (SWD) and the Kwun Tong District Social Welfare Office (KTDSWO). I did so in order to personally thank the 100-plus staff helping in the late-night emergency evacuation of nearly 300 elderly in frail health condition in two nearby residential care homes for the elderly during the No. 4 alarm fire on Ngau Tau Kok Road.
While all public attention focused on the brave firefighters combatting the tragic inferno on June 22 this year, outside the fire scene were in fact numerous staff from various government departments striving on to provide emergency relief and preparing for the evacuation of affected residents. The LORCHE and the KTDSWO immediately sent staff to conduct site inspection as soon as they learnt that the two elderly homes at Tak Bo Garden near the fire scene might be affected by the thick smoke. LORCHE mobilised all its four inspectorate teams including nurses, social workers, fire officers and building surveyors. They joined hands with district staff from the Integrated Family Service Centres and the Social Security Branch at the site to provide elderly residents with emotional support, carry out on-site assessment and prepare the necessary resources for evacuation at any time as dictated by external circumstances. Once the decision to evacuate the elderly residents of the two homes was made as the situation deteriorated after nightfall, SWD immediately mobilised more staff to provide essential support in cooperation with various departments.
The evacuation was like a military operation. Our staff needed to understand well the health conditions of each elderly resident and arrange for premises of temporary stay, temporary residential care places, conventional transportation and other barrier-free transports. Staff also needed to escort the elderly residents to their shelters and promptly inform their families of the relevant arrangements to cater for the specific needs of individual residents.
It was unlike abled-bodied people running from a fire. Of the about 300 evacuees, almost 90 per cent were wheelchair users in very frail health condition. Some had to be fed by a nasogastric tube or rely on medical equipment such as respiratory support medical equipment and peritoneal dialysis machines, and some were dementia patients. The medicines and special care for each resident must not be confused so nurses from SWD prudently checked over relevant records on the spot and arranged for the weakest ones to leave first.
Meticulous care and wheelchair-accessible vehicles were needed in helping elderly in serious health conditions leave the fire scene. With assistance from many police officers on the site, the evacuation was completed smoothly after deploying a large crew of ambulances from Auxiliary Medical Service (AMS), rehabilitation buses from the Hospital Authority (HA), and barrier-free vehicles from various private homes urgently recruited at late night by the Elderly Services Association of Hong Kong which is formed by private residential homes for the elderly.
Some residents who had better mobility spent the night at the Ngau Tau Kok Caritas Community Centre and the Cheung Muk Tau Holiday Centre for the Elderly in Sai Kung run by Helping Hand. Some were taken home by their families and some were admitted to United Christian Hospital. Others were taken to various residential homes for temporary stay. As everyone knows, with the residential homes for the elderly in Hong Kong always fully occupied, it is undoubtedly a great challenge to find alternative accommodation for so many elderly overnight. Thanks to LORCHE’s close monitoring on the place allocation at various residential homes and many private homes’ initiative and cooperation in promptly providing places for temporary stay, SWD managed to relocate over 230 residents to about ten residential homes expeditiously.
In the process, members of KTDSWO and district departments turned out in full force for the relief work. Even professional social workers and staff normally responsible for case counselling and social security services respectively turned into “close bodyguards” for the elderly residents. The whole operation seemed quiet and discreet, like a secret military manoeuvre. Yet it was a crucial exercise, allowing no room for the tiniest mistake or delay. Mere evacuation is not enough; thoughtful follow-up service is even more important. For instance, in the community halls, staff acted as janitors in case of an elderly resident’s incontinence, bought hot congee for the elderly for breakfast, and watched every doorway such that elderly who got up in the middle of the night would not miss their way. I am deeply touched by and grateful to our staff for serving wholeheartedly without taking rest. When I visited the two residential homes and talked with the elderly and staff, I was touched as they thanked SWD staff for their care, selfless devotion and professional support.
The smooth emergency resettlement of nearly 300 elderly in frail health condition in one night was a record-setting achievement. Behind this efficient resettlement within a short time and their orderly return to their original residential homes at various stages afterwards, the one-minded and unreserved teamwork of staff from relevant SWD units and other departments and organisations, in addition to the full support from staff of the two residential homes, was of vital importance. Let me take this opportunity to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Elderly Services Association of Hong Kong, Caritas Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Society for Rehabilitation, Helping Hand, HA, AMS and Hong Kong St. John Ambulance. The operation would not have run so smoothly without their assistance. Not only has the relief work exemplified tripartite collaboration among the general public, the government and the business sector, it has also demonstrated the supportive role played by private residential care homes.
This late-night operation has fully illustrated SWD staff’s professionalism, selfless devotion and noble quality of caring for the elderly. It also demonstrated the esprit de corps of the government departments concerned, private residential care homes and social welfare organisations.
This successful late-night operation triggered by a disastrous fire is like a rainbow and warm current to the prevailing depressed atmosphere in Hong Kong. Come rain or shine, the Lion Rock Spirit - perseverance, industriousness, tenacity in the face of adversities, commitment to common interest, as well as social harmony and cohesion - will continue, as always, to flourish on this blessed land.
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