Responders’ and Partners’ Appreciation Event 2024 - Speech by Ms Sun Xueling, Minister of State, Ministry of Home Affairs and Ministry of Social and Family Development

Commissioner Eric Yap

Distinguished guests

Our community partners

Ladies and gentlemen

1. A very good evening to everyone.

2. I am glad to be here with you, to recognise and celebrate the contributions of our Responders and community partners.

3. Many of us know that during an emergency, the immediate response of those nearby is critical:

(a) For cardiac arrests, the victim’s chance of survival drops by 7 – 10% for every minute without intervention.

(b) Similarly, interventions in the first few minutes of minor fires are crucial to prevent them from spreading.

(c) During a terror attack, the immediate activation of lockdown procedures, evacuation, and applying first aid to victims, are all essential actions to save lives.

4. When we join the pool of Responders, we increase the chances of fellow Singaporeans receiving such critical assistance during emergencies.

5. I would like to share with you an example - Dr Shafia’s story. One Sunday morning, she suddenly collapsed and lost consciousness at home. Fortunately, her husband, Mr Nasron, was also at home. Mr Nasron recalled his medical training from his NSF days, and started performing CPR on her while family members called for an ambulance. One of our Responders, Mr Patrick Cheong, was alerted to the incident through the myResponder app and rushed to the scene with an AED. Shocks from the AED helped to restore Dr Shafia’s heart to a normal rhythm, which saved her life. All this took place before the SCDF ambulance arrived.

Call-to-Action for a Nation of Responders

6. In an emergency, every minute counts. This is why we aspire towards becoming a Nation of Responders.

7. As of December 2023, we have 162,483 registered Responders. This network of Responders has attended to more than 11,200 cases over the last eight years. We want to continue to grow these numbers. Anyone, even those without training, can sign up as Responders through the SGSecure or myResponder app. Simple acts such as fetching an AED, or pouring water down a rubbish chute to put out a minor fire, do not require training and yet can make so much difference.

8. Creating a Nation of Responders who are willing to help their fellow Singaporeans also fosters a sense of unity. A resilient and united community can better weather times of crisis and national emergencies like a terror attack. For this reason, our SGSecure campaign also emphasises the pivotal role of Responders in the fight against terrorism.

9. There are many key partners here today who have been working with us closely to achieve our goals. Thank you for your strong support, and we look forward to our continued partnerships. We also hope that other organisations will be inspired by your actions, and step forward as partners of our Responders’ network.

Psychological First Aid

10. Since the last Responders’ and Partners’ Appreciation Event in 2022, we have been working on ways to better develop and support our Responders.

11. One area of focus is on upskilling our Responders. The 2022 SGSecure Public Perception Survey showed that some people were hesitant to sign up as Responders because they were not confident if they had the skills to help in an emergency. Besides convincing them that specialised skills are not required to be a Responder, we can increase their confidence by providing more training opportunities.

12. One example is our collaboration with the Singapore Red Cross Society and Temasek Foundation on a psychological first aid training programme. This programme was launched in May 2023, and aims to train 1,500 Responders in psychological first aid over three years. Training in psychological first aid strengthens community support to heal psychological wounds and rebuild social structures after crises. This contributes towards building the resilient community I mentioned earlier.

Launch of Responders Plus Programme and refreshed myResponder App

13. Another area is the streamlining of existing training programmes. Responses to the 2022 SCDF Public Perception Survey indicated that some people were less willing to take part in emergency preparedness training due to competing priorities and time constraints. This is very understandable. Hence, the SCDF has streamlined the three-tiered Community Emergency Preparedness Programme, or CEPP, into a two-part Responders Plus Programme, or RPP.

14. As the name suggests, Responders are at the heart of the RPP. This is why we will be launching the RPP tonight, as we celebrate the contributions of our Responders. The “Plus” signifies the confidence that participants will gain to respond to emergency situations, after going through the programme.

15. RPP comprises an online and an in-person component. The online component allows participants to learn lifesaving skills at their own pace and convenience. It involves a single e-learning courseware that provides a more focused and interactive experience compared to existing CEPP e-learning modules.

16. The in-person RPP component emphasises hands-on practical sessions on skills like CPR, the use of AEDs and fire extinguishers, and basic first aid.

17. Over 170,000 people have participated in the CEPP since 2016. We hope that many more will participate in the RPP, and be inspired to sign up as Responders through the SGSecure or myResponder app.

18. I’m also happy to share that we expect to roll out a new version of the myResponder app later this year. Enhancements to the myResponder app will include being able to receive alerts of incidents within a larger vicinity, and having options to select different routes to the incident location depending on whether the user is driving or travelling on foot. With these improvements, we hope that our apps will better support Responders when they attend to cases.

Conclusion

19. In closing, I would like to once again thank all our Responders and partners for their strong support. Your willingness to step forward during emergencies, and your efforts to grow our Responders’ network, have certainly made Singapore a safer home for all of us. Let us press on with our efforts towards becoming a Nation of Responders, and continue working together to keep Singapore safe and secure.

20. Thank you very much.