New rescue boats save time and cuts costs

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KUALA Lumpur City Hall’s rescue squad will soon be equipped with an innovative water rescue vehicle that would go a long way to aid the team in its rescue operations both locally and abroad.

The device not only saves time and costs, but has other useful benefits too. What’s interesting about the vehicle, though, is that it was conceptualised and developed by the rescue squad itself.

The vehicle is the Rescue Surf Boat and was created by the 10-member RES-Q 2 squad for the Work Quality Upgrade (KMK) Convention held in Putrajaya recently. The ingenious device earned them the championship title in the technical category.

RES-Q 2 will now be representing the Federal Territories at the national level convention in Ipoh, Perak, on Nov 10 and 11.

Innovative: A close-up look at the boat which is a lot lighter than the current rescue vehicle and only needs four people to carry.

Describing the win as moral boost for both City Hall and the team, Superintendent Osman Ismail from the DBKL security and enforcement department said that whether or not they win at the national convention, the surf boat will be utilised by the local authority in all its water rescue operations in the future.

“When we decided to take part in the convention, we wanted to create a device that would help us conduct our rescue operations smoothly,” Osman said.

“Based on our experience, the conventional rescue boat had its flaws. For instance, it takes time to load the boat on a four-wheel drive when on a rescue mission. We need a trailer and at least six people for the job,” he said.

However, Osman said the surf boat was lighter, only needed four people to carry it and did not need a trailer to be transported.

“This makes it quicker for us to reach the scene and that means more lives can be saved.

“On top of that, the device is people friendly and, due to its flat surface, rescuers are able to drag the victims on board easily and perform CPR exercises on the spot,” he said.

Osman said the idea to come up with the surf boat was inspired by rescue operations carried out by the squad nationwide.

“During rescue operations like floods, there are many factors that hamper rescuers from saving lives and the rescue boat itself was not designed properly.

“Our rescuers found it difficult to carry out their duties,” he added.

When the opportunity arose through the KMK convention, the squad got together and started throwing ideas around.

“A cast-off surf bike was used as a sample and, from there, we started conceptualising the idea of the surf boat. Eleven months later and after countless trials and errors, we came up with the vehicle,” Osman said.

“It was team work that brought us here which is the idea behind the KMK, which also aims to ensure better delivery of public service,” Osman said.

The Work Quality Upgrade concept was introduced to the civil service in 1983 to ensure better delivery of services to the public.

Apart from DBKL, other teams taking part in the convention in Ipoh are JPA, JKR, the Police, the Fire Department, Jakim and many other government departments.

When asked if there were plans to share the device with other government agencies, Osman said that a contractor would be hired to perfect the device.

“We will patent it and it will be used for future rescue operations,” he said.