SPF’s scenario-based training proves effective and useful on the ground.
IMAGE: Brothers in arms – the patrol team that was instrumental in the successful rescue on 6 December 2017.
SC/CPL Rajdave Singh never thought he would prevent a woman from falling off a building 1½ months into his NS posting as a Ground Response Force Officer with Singapore Police Force (SPF).
He was part of the patrol team from Bukit Panjang Neighbourhood Police Centre who rescued a domestic helper on 6 December 2017.
The woman had accidentally locked herself in a room. In a panic, she had crawled out the window and tried to reach the next window via an external ledge in order to climb back into the flat. But she slipped and ended up dangling precariously from a railing.
The situation initially looked like a suicide attempt, but the woman’s reactions to their presence showed the police officers otherwise.
To everyone’s great relief, the police officers rescued her in the nick of time – SSGT Stanley Koh was the first to grab her arms, and the woman was pulled to safety by the combined efforts of the team and two members of the public.
SC/CPL Rajdave Singh attributed his role in the rescue to the scenario-based training he and his fellow officers underwent at Training Command, which enabled him to remain calm, and think and act quickly.
Each scenario is based on actual incidents. And as this case was similar to a simulated suicide he had been guided through, he knew what had to be done.
Asked how he felt about this experience, he said:
It’s not something I would have imagined seeing but, thankfully, we’d already been trained to deal with different scenarios and handle various types of cases.
