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The Government Flying Service (GFS) is a disciplined service department.
It provides the community of Hong Kong with a broad range of flying services,
including round-the-clock search and rescue coverage and casualty and
medical evacuation, fire fighting, and support for the law enforcement
agencies and other government departments.
To perform these tasks, the GFS has an establishment
of 178 disciplined and 60 civilian personnel and operates a mixed aircraft
fleet of two Jetstream J-41 aeroplanes and seven helicopters — three
Eurocopter AS332 L2s (Super Pumas) and four Eurocopter EC155B1s (Dauphines).
In 2003, the GFS flew a total of 6 956 hours
and assisted in 377 search and rescue operations and transported 2
003 patients to hospital by helicopter. The auxiliary 'flying doctors'
and 'flying nurses' flew a total of 530 hours in 713 operations. The GFS
also flew 10 462 government officers and official visitors in the course
of their duties or programmes.
During the year, the GFS enhanced its emergency air
medical service by introducing the 'Helicopter Roadside Rescue' in which
helicopters will land on roads, close to the scene of serious traffic
accidents. The on-board medical team will prepare casualties for direct
transfer to hospital.
The GFS maintained its high standard of emergency
flying service, such as search and rescue and air ambulance service, to
the community during the SARS outbreak. In particular, its helicopters
transferred 10 suspected SARS patients from clinics on outlying islands
to hospital. The GFS also assisted the Federation of Hong Kong Film Workers
in shooting a short film which aimed at encouraging Hong Kong people at
a difficult time.
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