Navy Region Center Singapore holds community-wide safety and environmental fair

Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Christopher Veloicaza | SINGAPORE - Ray Goldstein, general counselor, Navy Region Center Singapore (NRCS), practices putting out a small fire with an average household fire extinguisher. The region held its annual Safety and Environmental Fair at the region’s headquarters building in Sembawang, Singapore, April 8. The five-hour event gathered more than 150 visitors and participants to include representatives from the region’s medical staff, Child and Youth Programs, Morale Welfare and Recreation, Public Health Department, Fleet and Family Readiness, the Public Safety Department and the Environmental Department. Local Singaporean safety and governmental organizations also participated in the event to discuss community-wide safety and environmental topics. (Official U.S. Navy photo by Marc Ayalin)  

SINGAPORE

04.08.2016

Story by Christopher Veloicaza 

Singapore Area Coordinator

SINGAPORE (Apr. 8, 2016) – Navy Region Center Singapore (NRCS) held its annual Safety and Environmental Fair, Apr. 8, 2016, at the region’s headquarters building in Singapore.

The five-hour event, which began at 8 a.m., gathered more than 150 visitors and participants to include representatives from the region’s medical staff, Child and Youth Programs, Morale Welfare and Recreation, Public Health Command, Fleet and Family Readiness, the Public Safety Department and the Environmental Department. Local Singaporean safety and governmental organizations also participated in the event to discuss community-wide safety and environmental topics. These organizations included the Singapore Police Force, Installations Auxiliary Police Force, the Singapore Civil Defence Force Fire and Emergency Department, and the National Environment Agency of Singapore.

“Every year, this event allows us to promote safety and environmental awareness among the Sembawang military community by gathering our tenant commands and local organizations to talk about issues such as crime prevention, disease control, and fire prevention,” said Brian Pavone, NRCS Public Safety Director. “It’s also an excellent opportunity to remind people that we should bring safety and environmental awareness to the forefront of our daily lives.”

During the fair, military service members, DoD civilian employees and family members had opportunities to learn about different safety topics and activities such as driving safety, fire extinguishing techniques, Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR), food safety and dental hygiene to name a few. For HM2 Jennifer Dudak, NRCS Medical, this was a great event for her to promote proper dental hygiene, especially for children.

“A lot of people don’t know that it is important to start dental hygiene at an early age before children even have their teeth,” Dudak said. “You start with wiping gums and when their first tooth comes, that’s when you start brushing and continue on so that the child gets the action of brushing.”

Driving safety was a big topic during the fair and participants had the opportunity to ride a motorcycle simulator complete with motorcycle handlebars, sound effects and vivid driving scenarios that challenged even seasoned riders. Yet, the main goal was to show people that driving any motor vehicle, safely, had no limitations.

“Our goal using the motorcycle simulator was to show a person that driving safe is vital regardless of night time, day time or even during hazy or foggy driving conditions,” said Anees Aaysha, NRCS Safety Services Assistant.

The Singapore heat rose even more as participants learned fire safety techniques using a fire extinguisher to put out a real fire. The live-fire training was closely monitored by fire fighters from the Singapore Civil Defence Force and attracted many interested people.

“It was a scary experience trying to put out that fire but by doing so, I gained a certain confidence knowing that now, I can properly operate your standard fire extinguisher,” said Ghile Kumar, NRCS Strategy and Future Requirements Analyst.

For Singapore Civil Defence Force representatives who provided the fire safety training, this was a great opportunity for the Sembawang military community to learn more about fire safety, but more specifically, how to use a common household fire extinguisher.

“With more and more Housing Development Board buildings being built in Singapore and with an increasing population, we are limited in fire-fighting manpower,” said Lt. Chai Min Wei, fire officer, 3rd Division, Singapore Civil Defence Force. “So we need to teach the public about basic fire-fighting skills. So when they see a small fire they feel confident that they can extinguish a small fire in their neighborhood before it gets bigger.”

Throughout the morning and early afternoon, visitors continued engaging with safety and environmental representatives with questions and discussions on various issues. Meanwhile, the annual event only looks to grow larger in the future as the Public Safety Department of NRCS is exploring ways to enhance participation and attendance for next year’s event.


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• Date Taken: 04.08.2016
• Date Posted: 04.21.2016 04:06
• Story ID: 196023
• Location: SG