Singapore not ready for terrorist attacks, despite what govt
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Going by the recent report of shortages of hospital beds, it is obvious that we are prepared for any terrorist attack and are ill-equipped to save the wounded should such a disaster occurs.
There was a report in the news last week about a woman having to wait for 24 hours at TTSH before she could get a bed. Before that she was simply lying on those trolley beds without even a pillow, while others like here were put in the same crowded place. She could not get a bed in B2, and not even all the other classes when her daughter tried to, simply because all the beds are filled up. Not even other hospitals e.g. SGH and NUH. According to the hospitals, it is a seasonal thing that beds are hard to come by during this peak period when many come down with flu and elderly with pneumonia. They were even reporting a hospital bed take-up rate of 80-90% !!
How then, can we cope with a terrorist attack, if the terrorists are smart enough to attack at a time, the "seasonal" period in the year when hospital beds are hard to come by?
I personally encountered this serious shortage of hospital beds when my father was admitted. They had to put him in isolation ward simply because there was no more bed, and my poor elderly mother had to wheel him there herself because there was "manpower shortage".
Well, there wouldn't be, perhaps, if they don't admit people without checking properly. One day after my father was admitted, he was discharged as the doctors couldn't do the necessary checks on him as the lab was closed.
Why then, did they admit him unnecessarily? Is it to milk money out of us??
Don't even get me started on the decaying standards of healthcare here.
The truth remains though, that much more has to be done before Singapore starts talking about being ready for terrorist attacks.
Don't trumpet something untrue. -
in the event of an attack what we need are coffins, not bed.
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empty hangars to store them temporary too. just like blackhawk down.Originally posted by dragg:in the event of an attack what we need are coffins, not bed. -
During attacks, you expect hospital to be up? If they aren't bombed down and destroyed, it's considered lucky.
Besides, how big can a hospital be? Who will be treated first if it happens? It only can hold a certain number of people, any more, go to temporary set up tents. Our NS men would be the first to be treated, as they are defending us.
And, you are expected to know some of the procedures yourself. They don't build bomb shelters for fun, neither are first aid taught in school for fun. Precaution is always better. If you suspect something and called the police in time to prevent an attack, would it happen in the first place? One thing always lead to another. If we choose to be ignorant of the signs, we are asking for it. If we choose to be alert, then it's an issue to be addressed.
Since you talked about preparation, ask yourself how prepared you are. Do you know what to do if it happens? What about your family members? -
Singapore prepares for terrorist attack by collecting good intelligence, suppressing most dissenters and retaining a tight control over citizens.
A small country like singapore can ill afford to sustain a high profile bombings as seen in other countries. Terrorists do not even need to bomb a commerical building, a bomb anywhere, even in Lim Chu Kang can shake the nation and many industries might get affected and compromised.
Most of the country's preparation cannot be seen by the common citizen not involved in the preparation and prevention (ie those involved may include intelligence gathering, civil defence preparation, HAZMAT teams, star team, dart team, media professionals, politicians).
Perhaps we are unaware of the preparations in place and feel insecure as such? -
i dont believe there is a single place on earth that is immune to terror attack, however good your intelligence is.
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how can an individual, like you and I be prepared for a terrorist attack?
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If I recall correctly :
During a mass casualty , there will be massive discharges of those who can manage at home. Then you go into priorities if the casualties are too much for the hospitals to tackle- such as the dreaded survival of the fittest - that is if you have a higher chance of surviving versus the 80 year old who just got hit by shrapnel or something - you get saved first. However if the old man turns out to be youknowwho then ....different priority lor. All healthcare staff will be recalled from home or leave etc to help out.
Terrorist attacks can come in many forms . No one or even government can fully prepare for it but one can try to do a risk assessment and see how best the damage can be controlled .
What you can do as a citizen is be proactive and report to the police any highly suspicious activities. -
maybe they want to reduce the population
out with the old in with the new mah -
any gabrament (with the exception of Israel which is perpetually under terrorist siege) who says they're ready is lying...
NO ONE IS READY...
and what foxwalk says is right.. already the hospitals cannot handle the workload, add mass casualties, what do you think?
well, the idiots up high insist on listening to con-men-sultants and worship the balance sheet, we the citizens will end up picking up the pieces for them.. as usual...
btw, this is NOT limited to singapore.. this is generally true for almost every country on God's Green Earth -
You're right of course. You pointed out a fact that I failed to include. But good intelligence can lower the risk of terror attacks, although as many of you will be quick to point out, it does not eliminate the possibility of it happening.Originally posted by dragg:i dont believe there is a single place on earth that is immune to terror attack, however good your intelligence is. -
No one, not even Israel, can say that they are thoroughly prepared for a terrorist attack. The sad fact is that, Singapore is so small, any terror attack that is of the same magnitude as the london subway bombings, the batam bombings, or the recent india's bombings would have a very magnified effect on our economy, stockmarket and peoples response.Originally posted by the Bear:any gabrament (with the exception of Israel which is perpetually under terrorist siege) who says they're ready is lying...
NO ONE IS READY...
and what foxwalk says is right.. already the hospitals cannot handle the workload, add mass casualties, what do you think?
well, the idiots up high insist on listening to con-men-sultants and worship the balance sheet, we the citizens will end up picking up the pieces for them.. as usual...
btw, this is NOT limited to singapore.. this is generally true for almost every country on God's Green Earth
The govt therefore "attempts" to take preventive measures instead, and in many of our opinions, neglected the reactive measures.
Of course, even if we created a homeland security ministry, put singapore under martial law and implement curfews, determined terrorists can still attack singapore. There is always another way to attack singapore. Same for all the other countries. -
our govt are more concerned with strategic places.Originally posted by SilverPal:You're right of course. You pointed out a fact that I failed to include. But good intelligence can lower the risk of terror attacks, although as many of you will be quick to point out, it does not eliminate the possibility of it happening.
they can always opt to bomb a neighbourhood. -
One thing is the preparedness of civilian hospitals but in the event of catastrophic levels (CAT 1) incidences, SAF will come in and set up field hospitals and help with consequence management. There are very sound plans being laid for the event of an attack on any major institution or landmark in Singapore and general plans made for places which are less important. With the plans in place, the only factor that can possibly go wrong is civilians not being prepared to react to an attack.
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ahh.. field hospitals... where do doctors in the field hospitals come from?
Reservist doctors = our normal doctors out there...
so mostly, move lots of doctors with reservist liabilities from hospital to field hospital, making the civilian hospitals even stretched...Originally posted by Eikei:One thing is the preparedness of civilian hospitals but in the event of catastrophic levels (CAT 1) incidences, SAF will come in and set up field hospitals and help with consequence management. There are very sound plans being laid for the event of an attack on any major institution or landmark in Singapore and general plans made for places which are less important. With the plans in place, the only factor that can possibly go wrong is civilians not being prepared to react to an attack. -
It means the activation of GPs working in your clinics current regular MOs and NSF MOs too. Not just hospital doctors. There are tons of doctors who do not work in hospitals.
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I'm not sure about this but, in times of emergency, when many doctors are needed, will private doctors with no NS liability help out at hospitals?Originally posted by Eikei:It means the activation of GPs working in your clinics current regular MOs and NSF MOs too. Not just hospital doctors. There are tons of doctors who do not work in hospitals. -
i guess the GPs would go.. i hope the GPs would go...
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Doctor's reservist is up to 55 years old if I am not wrong so I guess should have enough around.
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then comes the next bit... nurses..
most are ladies.. and almost all employed by hospitals...
no way, no how can medics do what they can.. most can do rudimentary 1st aid... and i can bet the reservist ones forgot everything except their CPR.. i know... i'm a medic
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Ya I think nurses are a big big problem. At present we are already short of nurses.
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Why ppl like to buy coffin before they die?
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So called they are 1st world government!!!Originally posted by foxwalk:Going by the recent report of shortages of hospital beds, it is obvious that we are prepared for any terrorist attack and are ill-equipped to save the wounded should such a disaster occurs.
There was a report in the news last week about a woman having to wait for 24 hours at TTSH before she could get a bed. Before that she was simply lying on those trolley beds without even a pillow, while others like here were put in the same crowded place. She could not get a bed in B2, and not even all the other classes when her daughter tried to, simply because all the beds are filled up. Not even other hospitals e.g. SGH and NUH. According to the hospitals, it is a seasonal thing that beds are hard to come by during this peak period when many come down with flu and elderly with pneumonia. They were even reporting a hospital bed take-up rate of 80-90% !!
How then, can we cope with a terrorist attack, if the terrorists are smart enough to attack at a time, the "seasonal" period in the year when hospital beds are hard to come by?
I personally encountered this serious shortage of hospital beds when my father was admitted. They had to put him in isolation ward simply because there was no more bed, and my poor elderly mother had to wheel him there herself because there was "manpower shortage".
Well, there wouldn't be, perhaps, if they don't admit people without checking properly. One day after my father was admitted, he was discharged as the doctors couldn't do the necessary checks on him as the lab was closed.
Why then, did they admit him unnecessarily? Is it to milk money out of us??
Don't even get me started on the decaying standards of healthcare here.
The truth remains though, that much more has to be done before Singapore starts talking about being ready for terrorist attacks.
Don't trumpet something untrue.
S H i T -
Let's face it; you can make all the preparations you want, and you will never be able to cover for every single contingency. I'm not saying that the Government is not preparing for terrorist strikes; what I'm saying is that you simply can't cover all your bases.
If the recent terrorist strikes are of any indication, terrorists are no longer so squemish about going for 'soft' targets of which there are a lot. Terrorists would of course want to strike directly at what they perceive to be the 'main enemy', which is the government or the military.
On the other hand, the Madrid, London and most recently, Mumbai bombings all went for purely civillian targets with the intent to cause the maximum number of civillian casualties. The Mumbai bombings, for instance, were timed such that they occurred during the evening rush hour. You would of course want to impose tight security on government buildings and military installations, but there's no way you could do the same for every single HDB block.
Of course, we try to learn and adapt to the changing tactics of the terrorists. For instance, after the Madrid bombings security at MRT stations was beefed up. But the MRT represents only one potential 'soft' target - there are many others out there as well.
Heck, when I sit down for lectures with 300-400 other undergrads I sometimes can't help but wonder about what would happen should a bomb go off in the lecture theater.
I guess the only feasible defence against strikes on soft targets would be public education, namely, to have the people on the lookout for any suspicious activities. But right now I'm a bit sceptical of that as well, considering the apathy of the general populace in such matters. -
Hmm... been ruminating over what I wrote earlier... did I go a wee bit out of point there? After all, this thread does seem to be focusing on the medical response to terrorist strikes, and not on security preparations that I talked about.
I'll pull my previous reply (with apologies) out of this thread if I really did.