SINGAPORE – After a gruelling 36-hour rescue exercise, the Singapore Civil Defence Force’s (SCDF) elite overseas disaster assistance team retained its United Nations Insarag Heavy USAR classification – the highest international recognition for a disaster rescue team.

During the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (Insarag) external reclassification exercise that began on Aug 19, the SCDF Operation Lionheart contingent had to rescue an injured person separated by a collapsed diagonal wall.

The exercise at HTTC in Mandai was reviewed by 13 International Insarag global classifiers, or peer experts, from seven countries, as well as observers from Australia, Brazil, Hong Kong, Qatar and France.

The classifiers focus on skills and competencies demonstrated during the search and rescue, as well as medical capabilities and logistical management, said Assistant Commissioner Chew Keng Tok, director of training and professional development at the Home Team Tactical Centre (HTTC) on Aug 21.

Rescuers used a hydraulic drill to punch a hole through a foot-thick concrete wall. The loud and dusty conditions, as well as metal rebars in the concrete wall, made the task challenging.

The contingent also deployed search dogs to sniff out “survivors” buried under rubble.

A safety officer and classifier observed closely when a few rescuers carefully extricated an “injured person” trapped under a concrete slab.

At a closing ceremony on Aug 22 to mark the end of the exercise, the SCDF team burst in cheers and applause when UN Insarag representative Winston Chang shouted from the rostrum: “You passed!” 

“The Singapore Operation Lionheart team has successfully completed an arduous 36-hour full scale exercise in punishing conditions,” Mr Chang noted in his speech.

“The international Insarag global classifiers… have given top marks to Team Singapore.”

Eighty members of the contingent then proudly received their UN Insarag patches.

This is the contingent’s third reclassification, after 2013 and 2018. The 2023 exercise was postponed due to disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Being classified as a Heavy USAR team allows the Operation Lionheart to conduct full-scale search, rescue, and medical operations in major disasters anywhere in the world independently for up to 10 days.

SCDF’s contingent was the first team in the Asia-Pacific region and the seventh in the world to be accorded the status of a Heavy USAR Team, in 2008.

To date, SCDF’s Operation Lionheart contingent has been deployed to 21 overseas missions.

AC Chew is a former Dart (Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team) commander who had led an Operation Lionheart contingent to Turkey in 2023 to assist in search and rescue efforts after a 7.8 magnitude earthquake.

“Going through this exercise allows us the opportunity to ‘exercise’ our people and at the same time demonstrate our competency and skills to a class of international observers,” he said.

During the exercise, classifiers also asked how SCDF has used “cyborg cockroaches” in disaster operations.

These insect-hybrid robots are live Madagascar hissing cockroaches fitted with infrared cameras and sensors. Their small size of about 6cm allows them to crawl into tight spaces to look for survivors.

The cyborg cockroaches were developed by the Home Team Science and Technology Agency, together with Nanyang Technological University and Klass Engineering and Solutions.

They were first deployed on March 31 in Myanmar. They were later used twice on April 3 in the capital, Naypyidaw. 

SCDF Commissioner Erip Yap also addressed the contingent and guests at the Civil Defence at the closing ceremony held at the Civil Defence Academy.

“The Insarag framework provides today a very stable and reliable means for us to depend on, and for us to be assured that when disaster strikes, teams that are certified to a certain level will be there to render assistance and to alleviate the suffering that the local community face,” he said.

Commissioner Yap also took the opportunity to launch the Operation Lionheart Commemorative book, which captures the history of SCDF’s overseas humanitarian rescue missions.

An e-version of the book is also available on SCDF’s website and social media.

  • Zaihan Mohamed Yusof is senior crime correspondent at The Straits Times.