James Kon
Two boats collided in the waters below the Raja Isteri Pengiran Anak Hajah Saleha (RIPAHS) Bridge, resulting in several passengers falling into the Brunei River.
Personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department (FRD), the Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF), Emergency Medical Ambulance Services (EMAS) and the Maritime Port Authority of Brunei Darussalam (MPABD) were deployed to the site for a search-and-rescue mission.
This was the scenario of a recent exercise codenamed ‘Exsesais Sekoci 2021’, led by Exercise Director and Commanding officer of the Operation ‘D’ Branch SSFR Muhd Shahreeni bin Haji Mohd Yussof.
FRD Acting Director Lim Hock Guan observed the exercise with the FRD Senior
Management Team.
Exsesais Sekoci 2021 is one of the efforts by the FRD to improve joint operation preparedness among agencies in dealing with water accidents, as well as an update of the agencies’ standard operating procedures (SOPs).
Exsesais Sekoci is also aimed at assessing emergency action plan’s effectiveness and SOPs in response to water accidents, by taking into account the interaction of the emergency management centre with response agencies and incident commander post (ICP), in addition to using emergency management mechanisms based on each agency’s emergency
action plan.
The public is encouraged to use life jackets when travelling by boat. In the event of a drowning, one should be proficient at swimming and wear a life jacket first before trying to save the victim.
