I am a mother of 2 Singaporean sons. My sons are my world. My elder son was enlisted into the SAF November last year. On 17 April 2012, I received a call from the hospital that my son had been admitted to the A&E. When I arrived at the hospital, I was told that my son had died from respiratory failure. In that instance, my world collapsed.
It is clear to my family and me that my son’s death was preventable. He was asthmatic. The incident that cost him his life was an
urban training exercise involving smoke bombs in a confined area.
However, it is not his death I wish to discuss here. The issue I wish to present to you is that of safety regulations in the SAF. I am urging all parents of Singaporean sons to stand with me, to advocate for greater accountability on the part of the SAF for the safety of our sons. We cannot be mere bystanders when our sons are conscripted into NS. We cannot allow for our sons to be at the mercy of the training officers, be it the platoon sergeants or commanders, who are very often, little older and none the wiser than the boys they are tasked to oversee, boys whose lives often depend on the decisions that they make.
I do not wish my tragedy on anyone and I do not want my son’s untimely death to go into the books of MINDEF as just another accident. Parents, I urge you to join me, so that MINDEF may hear our collective voice, and be moved to do more than pay lip service to ensure that our sons come back home alive and well.
Together, let’s call for:
1. More thorough screening of the medical history of NSF pre-enlistment, to ensure accurate fitness classification.
2. More stringent risk assessment of every training exercise.
3. Better equipped medical centres with better trained medical staff at/near every training location.
4. More stringent monitoring of staff who oversee NSF, to weed out abuse of power at all levels.
5. Greater accountability by MINDEF and SAF to all parents.
Parents, let us stand together to protect our sons and keep our families intact.
Let us bring our sons home safe!
Kindly share this message with all your relatives, friends n anyone you know.
However, it is not his death I wish to discuss here. The issue I wish to present to you is that of safety regulations in the SAF. I am urging all parents of Singaporean sons to stand with me, to advocate for greater accountability on the part of the SAF for the safety of our sons. We cannot be mere bystanders when our sons are conscripted into NS. We cannot allow for our sons to be at the mercy of the training officers, be it the platoon sergeants or commanders, who are very often, little older and none the wiser than the boys they are tasked to oversee, boys whose lives often depend on the decisions that they make.
I do not wish my tragedy on anyone and I do not want my son’s untimely death to go into the books of MINDEF as just another accident. Parents, I urge you to join me, so that MINDEF may hear our collective voice, and be moved to do more than pay lip service to ensure that our sons come back home alive and well.
Together, let’s call for:
1. More thorough screening of the medical history of NSF pre-enlistment, to ensure accurate fitness classification.
2. More stringent risk assessment of every training exercise.
3. Better equipped medical centres with better trained medical staff at/near every training location.
4. More stringent monitoring of staff who oversee NSF, to weed out abuse of power at all levels.
5. Greater accountability by MINDEF and SAF to all parents.
Parents, let us stand together to protect our sons and keep our families intact.
Let us bring our sons home safe!
Kindly share this message with all your relatives, friends n anyone you know.
Defence Minister Ng Eng Hen revealed in Parliament yesterday that an
inquiry into the deaths of two full-time national servicemen has
“uncovered clear breaches of training safety regulations” that led to
their deaths.
The incidents happened this year in separate training exercises.
The first case, outlined in his parliamentary speech, involved Private Dominique Lee Rui Feng, who died during a training exercise in Lim Chu Kang on 17 April.
The soldier, who had a history of asthma, had entered a building after smoke grenades were thrown and suffered breathing difficulties. He received Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and was sent to hospital, where he died later.
A forensic pathologist stated that he died from an "acute allergic reaction to zinc chloride due to inhalation of zinc chloride fumes".
Citing the Committees of Inquiry that investigated the deaths, the Defence Minister said that “the number of smoke grenades used in the exercise exceeded the limit specified in training safety regulations”.
During the exercise, not more than two smoke grenades should have been used, but the Platoon Commander, Captain Najib Hanuk Muhamad Jalal, had thrown six grenades.
ASTHMA
The inquiry noted that if regulations were followed, Private Lee and his platoon mates “would not have been subjected to smoke that was as dense as that during the incident”. The Platoon Commander was negligent “as he was aware of the regulations but did not comply with it”.
The inquiry could not “establish with certainty” if Private Lee’s history of asthma was a factor that led to his death.
Ng said that smoke grenades, which have zinc chloride fumes, are still safe to use if regulations are observed. Such grenades have been in use since 1970s and are also used by other militaries and agencies in the US, for example.
“However, despite these assurances, I can understand the anxiety of our soldiers and their families, arising from this isolated incident of a death due to inhalation of zinc chloride fumes,” he added.
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has since suspended the use of such smoke grenades at training exercises in order to study the use of grenades which do not produce zinc chloride, but will continue to use them in missions.
The other public concern was that a high number of National Servicemen – one in five – have asthma, often in a mild form.
Ng said that the SAF convened a board of five senior respiratory medicine specialists to study this and they concluded that “the SAF medical classification guidelines on asthma are relevant, up to date and in line with national and international standards”, that it is still safe for servicemen with a history of asthma to undergo training with smoke grenades if regulations are followed.
The Platoon Commander, as well as the Chief Safety Officer, Captain Chia Thye Siong, have been relieved of their duties and redeployed to assignments which do not oversee soldiers in training or operations.
http://news.insing.com/tabloid/safety-rules-breach-deaths-national-servicemen/id-c6643f00
The incidents happened this year in separate training exercises.
The first case, outlined in his parliamentary speech, involved Private Dominique Lee Rui Feng, who died during a training exercise in Lim Chu Kang on 17 April.
The soldier, who had a history of asthma, had entered a building after smoke grenades were thrown and suffered breathing difficulties. He received Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) and was sent to hospital, where he died later.
A forensic pathologist stated that he died from an "acute allergic reaction to zinc chloride due to inhalation of zinc chloride fumes".
Citing the Committees of Inquiry that investigated the deaths, the Defence Minister said that “the number of smoke grenades used in the exercise exceeded the limit specified in training safety regulations”.
During the exercise, not more than two smoke grenades should have been used, but the Platoon Commander, Captain Najib Hanuk Muhamad Jalal, had thrown six grenades.
ASTHMA
The inquiry noted that if regulations were followed, Private Lee and his platoon mates “would not have been subjected to smoke that was as dense as that during the incident”. The Platoon Commander was negligent “as he was aware of the regulations but did not comply with it”.
The inquiry could not “establish with certainty” if Private Lee’s history of asthma was a factor that led to his death.
Ng said that smoke grenades, which have zinc chloride fumes, are still safe to use if regulations are observed. Such grenades have been in use since 1970s and are also used by other militaries and agencies in the US, for example.
“However, despite these assurances, I can understand the anxiety of our soldiers and their families, arising from this isolated incident of a death due to inhalation of zinc chloride fumes,” he added.
The Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) has since suspended the use of such smoke grenades at training exercises in order to study the use of grenades which do not produce zinc chloride, but will continue to use them in missions.
The other public concern was that a high number of National Servicemen – one in five – have asthma, often in a mild form.
Ng said that the SAF convened a board of five senior respiratory medicine specialists to study this and they concluded that “the SAF medical classification guidelines on asthma are relevant, up to date and in line with national and international standards”, that it is still safe for servicemen with a history of asthma to undergo training with smoke grenades if regulations are followed.
The Platoon Commander, as well as the Chief Safety Officer, Captain Chia Thye Siong, have been relieved of their duties and redeployed to assignments which do not oversee soldiers in training or operations.
http://news.insing.com/tabloid/safety-rules-breach-deaths-national-servicemen/id-c6643f00
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