Writing in The Malaysian Insider recently, Dr Amar Singh posed five questions on the responsiveness (or lack thereof) by our local support and emergency services which everyone of us should be very concerned about.
The earthquake had occurred at 7.15am. What time were emergency and rescue services alerted? Who coordinated the rescue? What time were the helicopters dispatched? How was information on the disaster coordinated and shared and who was responsible? Why did the helicopters not reach the climbers when eyewitness accounts stated the weather was good?
Could the time factor in the SAR response and efficiency have made a difference? We will never know, but one guide did perish due to loss of blood.
However, the response from the Singapore side was a classic study of supreme efficiency, total discipline and an operation executed like clockwork with hardly a single hiccup.
Based on firsthand account narrated by someone who was there from Zero Hour touch down at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport till the mission was accomplished and all of her citizens safely home this was how it was carried out.
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