CAS Conducts Exercise to Enhance Emergency Response for Extreme Weather and Rescue Operations

CAS conducts exercise to enhance response to extreme weather and rescue capabilities

The Civil Aid Service (CAS) today (June7) organised an exercise codenamed "Gemini" at Wan Tuk Creek on Lantau Island and the Penny's Bay Community Isolation Facility, mobilising more than 300 members. The aim is to strengthen the units' emergency response, mobilisation, communication and co-ordination capabilities in situations of extreme weather, emergency rescue or infectious disease incidents, and further improve its command and control as well as operational efficiency when handling incidents.

The exercise simulated a super typhoon affecting HongKong, with CAS officers and members from operational, administrative and support units ordered to assist rescue operations. Scenarios included typhoon and flood rescues, clearing fallen trees, transporting casualties, and infection control measures for sudden infectious disease incidents. These simulations test and evaluate the units' efficiency and effectiveness in command and control, rescue techniques, communications, handling casualties and logistical support.

In addition to simulating accidents that may occur during a typhoon, the exercise also featured multiple scenarios, such as mountain rescues, emergency rescues, rescuing residents trapped by flooding, fallen trees blocking roads and handling casualties, triage cases and evacuating disaster victims. During the exercise, CAS rescue teams swiftly set up casualty collection stations and utilised rescue technologies such as drones and robotic dogs, and for the first time, used an electric outboard inflatable rubber boat and self-contained breathing apparatus, ensuring rescue operations could be conducted effectively and quickly.

The CAS hopes that by simulating different disaster situations, it can effectively assess members' rescue skill levels and their adaptability to conduct emergency tasks. In 2025, the CAS was deployed 28 times due to typhoon and extreme weather, an increase over the nine deployments in 2024. In 2025, there were 1 366 participants, more than the 725 participants in 2024.

The CAS will continue to strengthen preparedness for extreme weather, emergency rescue and infectious disease incidents, aiming to safeguard the lives and property of citizens.

The Civil Aid Service (CAS) organised an exercise today (June 7) to enhance its response and rescue capabilities during extreme weather. Photo shows a CAS member operating a rescue drone. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Civil Aid Service (CAS) organised an exercise today (June 7) to enhance its response and rescue capabilities during extreme weather. Photo shows CAS members handling a sudden infectious disease incident. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Civil Aid Service organised an exercise today (June 7) to enhance its response and rescue capabilities during extreme weather. Photo shows a robotic dog operating during a rescue operation. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Civil Aid Service (CAS) organised an exercise today (June 7) to enhance its response and rescue capabilities during extreme weather. Photo shows CAS members rescuing a victim using a self-contained breathing apparatus. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Civil Aid Service (CAS) organised an exercise today (June 7) to enhance its response and rescue capabilities during extreme weather. Photo shows CAS members operating an electric chainsaw to clear fallen trees obstructing a main road. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Civil Aid Service (CAS) organised an exercise today (June 7) to enhance its response and rescue capabilities during extreme weather. Photo shows CAS members rescuing a victim trapped on a cliff. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Civil Aid Service (CAS) organised an exercise today (June 7) to enhance its response and rescue capabilities during extreme weather. Photo shows CAS members saving a victim trapped in a flood. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

The Civil Aid Service (CAS) organised an exercise today (June 7) to enhance its response and rescue capabilities during extreme weather. Photo shows CAS members for the first time using an electric outboard inflatable rubber boat to rescue victims trapped in a flood. Source: HKSAR Government Press Releases

Police National Security Department arrests two men and three women

The National Security Department of the Hong Kong Police Force (NSD) received a referral from the Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department, that a batch of books with seditious intention was intercepted inside a consignment shipped to Hong Kong from overseas.

Following investigations, the NSD conducted an operation today (July 15). Officers searched two shops in Mong Kok and arrested two men aged 37 and 57 respectively, and three women aged between 30 and 59. They were suspected of contravening the offence of “doing an act that has a seditious intention with a seditious intention” under Section 24 of the Safeguarding National Security Ordinance.

Police investigations revealed that the five arrestees are suspected of displaying items with seditious intent and selling publications with seditious content inside the shops. The contents of these publications involved inciting hatred against the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, the judiciary, and law enforcement agencies. A batch of books with seditious intention was seized from the shops.

The five arrested persons are being detained for investigation.

Police remind members of the public that “doing an act that has a seditious intention with a seditious intention” is a serious offence. Upon first conviction, the maximum penalty is imprisonment for seven years. Members of the public are urged not to defy the law.

Source: AI-found images