He Gets High On Life
Staff Sergeant Steven Sung gave up a career in photography to join SCDF and save lives.
FOUR years ago, he traded his camera lens for a uniform, and an artistic design job for one that saves lives.
Staff Sergeant Steven Sung, 31, who is with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), has not looked back since.
Of his decision to switch career, he said that he felt there was more to life than just seeing beautiful things through a camera lens.
“I wanted to do something more than that.” He said.
His friends were shocked when he told them of his decision.
After his initial training, he was posted to Alexandra Fire Station as an emergency response specialist.
During that time, apart from the car accidents and fires, he was part of the Disaster Search and Rescue Team (Dart) that was sent to the scene when steel bars crashed down on workers at the Fusionpolis construction site.
Two workers died and some 29 were injured when the bars – which formed part of the building’s foundation – collapsed.
Staff Sgt Sung recalled that he and his team worked until 3am trying to recover the workers buried under the rubble.
“We had to remove the planks by hand.” He said.
But they managed to reach some of the workers and, with that, came tremendous job satisfaction.
He said that when the teams go to a fire to rescue those who are trapped, their job is made tougher when they see the relatives waiting anxiously outside.
ALL WORTH IT
But, he added: “When I see them reunited with their family members, I feel really happy.”
Helping others, he said, lends meaning to his job.
After three years at the fire station, Staff Sgt Sung was assigned to the rescue dog unit as a search specialist.
He helps to train the SCDF’s dogs to detect live victims buried underneath rubble.
Captain Tan Loo Ping, 32, said that the SCDF has 12 dogs in the urban search-and-rescue team.
The dogs are trained to search for life under wreckage caused by collapsed buildings or earthquakes.
Staff Sergeant Steven Sung, 31, who is with the Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF), has not looked back since.
Of his decision to switch career, he said that he felt there was more to life than just seeing beautiful things through a camera lens.
“I wanted to do something more than that.” He said.
His friends were shocked when he told them of his decision.
After his initial training, he was posted to Alexandra Fire Station as an emergency response specialist.
During that time, apart from the car accidents and fires, he was part of the Disaster Search and Rescue Team (Dart) that was sent to the scene when steel bars crashed down on workers at the Fusionpolis construction site.
Two workers died and some 29 were injured when the bars – which formed part of the building’s foundation – collapsed.
Staff Sgt Sung recalled that he and his team worked until 3am trying to recover the workers buried under the rubble.
“We had to remove the planks by hand.” He said.
But they managed to reach some of the workers and, with that, came tremendous job satisfaction.
He said that when the teams go to a fire to rescue those who are trapped, their job is made tougher when they see the relatives waiting anxiously outside.
ALL WORTH IT
But, he added: “When I see them reunited with their family members, I feel really happy.”
Helping others, he said, lends meaning to his job.
After three years at the fire station, Staff Sgt Sung was assigned to the rescue dog unit as a search specialist.
He helps to train the SCDF’s dogs to detect live victims buried underneath rubble.
Captain Tan Loo Ping, 32, said that the SCDF has 12 dogs in the urban search-and-rescue team.
The dogs are trained to search for life under wreckage caused by collapsed buildings or earthquakes.
The team has two other dogs that are being trained to sniff out flammable liquids, like kerosene and petrol, in fires where arson is suspected.
TRAINING
Staff Sgt Sung, who is currently training a rescue dog called Bailey, said that, on most days, the first order of the day is checking the dog’s vital signs to make sure he is healthy and well.
After a clean up, the team then exercises their dog and put them through some drills.
After which, it is training time at Mandai, where they enact scenarios for the dogs to search for “victims”.
When they return, they clean up the dogs up and finish up for the day.
Staff Sgt Sung, self professed animal lover, said that he was part of the team from Singapore that went to Yogyakarta when it was hit by a devastating earthquake in May last year.
He said that over five days, he helped search for victims trapped in the rubble, and gave first aid.
He even entertained the local children with cardboard puppets.
DISASTER ZONE
It was his first time in an earthquake disaster zone, he said.
“It was raining heavily, things were floating about and we couldn’t sleep. We also continued to feel the tremors.”
The experience left a deep impression on him.
“One unforgettable scene was on the day the teams left Yogyakarta and the children called out to us, “Please don’t go. What if the earthquake comes back again?”
He said: “I was totally moved by their cries.”
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