CAS Central Command Centre

Background

The CAS Central Command Centre was established on 1 October 1999 so as to centralize the incident control function of the three Regional headquarters in the former establishment with the aim to further enhance the operational efficiency.

Organization

The routine work of the CAS Central Command Centre is managed by the Command Core which is headed by the Deputy Commissioner/Operations and composed of the Senior Assistant Commissioner/Operations, the Chief Operations Officer (1),(2), the Principal Staff Officer and six Command Teams. Each Command Team has eight CAS officers at the rank of the senior officer or section leader for call-out service. The Command Core now has an establishment of 53 officers.

Roles and Responsibilities

CAS is required to undertake various duties and provide support to the regular emergency forces and government departments. When the Service is involved in emergency duties, the Command Core assumes the roles of operation command and coordination.

In execution of rescue duties, the duty Commander of the Central Command Centre takes overall charge of the command, control and resources deployment. The Central Command Centre also acts as a liaison point of CAS with other government departments, non-government organizations and public utilities companies in emergencies.

The CAS Central Command Centre often deploys liaison officers to the control centres of other government departments and the Emergency and Monitoring and Support Centre of the Security Bureau to provide latest information about the Service and coordinate with other emergency services.

Manning/Call-out

When the CAS Central Command Centre is opened, the Command Core will deploy the duty Commander, either at the Regional, Force or Corps Commander level, to take charge of the command and control of the operation; while two deputy duty commanders, who are under the same Region of the duty Commander or deployed by the Service, will station at the Central Command Centre to handle all kinds of emergency work. The other team members will assist in issuing deployment orders, keeping record of events, coordinating with all the duty personnel, updating all information for the efficient maneuvering of the resources by the duty Commander.

In addition to the Command Core, the working units of the Administration and Support Force such as detachments from the Communications, Transport, Welfare and Stores Companies are also directed to provide supporting services to the field units during operation.