Authorities hold rescue drill responding to possible disaster

Local  authorities  coordinated 600 participants on Saturday morning to hold the largest disaster response and rescue drill since the city’s handover. Secretary for Social Affairs and Culture Alexis Tam, who also served as the drill’s commander-in-chief, stated that Macau has mature mechanisms and sufficient capacity to respond to major accidents.
The three-hour drill, titled “Operation Mars,” simulated a fire alarm occurring during a performance at the Macao Forum, injuring some 200 people. Various government departments  – health, social affairs, tourism, information broadcasting services, municipal administration and security forces, as well as hospitals and the Red Cross – joined the drill to test their response capacities.
Alexis Tam stated that the drill proceeded smoothly and that he is confident in Macau’s capacity to respond to major disasters. He explained the government has long established an interdepartmental coordination mechanism and that the city has enough medical personnel and facilities to cope with a disaster, as demonstrated in the simulation.
“Even if a bigger disaster occurs, the SAR government has already established an emergency rescue mechanism in collaboration with Guangdong province. When Macau’s medical institutions are unable to cope with a calamity, [the government] can transfer injured parties to Zhuhai’s hospitals for treatment.”
Tam revealed that the authorities have been preparing for the drill for two months. Moreover, the government has regularly carried out rescue drills on different scales in order to “ensure readiness at any time.”
“As an international tourism city with a high population density, Macau received over 30 million visitors during last year alone. The SAR government must make sure the city has the ability to respond to natural disasters, terrorist attacks, maritime and aviation accidents that could happen,” he stated.  BY