The Hong Kong Government decided to form the Auxiliary Medical Service in order to create a force that could assist the regular medical services during emergencies. The establishment of the AMS was announced in the government gazette on 22 December 1950. In early 1951 the AMS made a call for volunteers, including ordinary people who could be trained as auxiliary nurses, ambulance drivers, and other roles. As the population of Hong Kong swelled with refugees from China in the post-Chinese Communist Revolution years, many lived in substandard housing areas susceptible to fires, landslips, storms, and other disasters, for which the AMS played a role in delivering emergency medical treatment. In the 1950s, AMS worked with St. John Ambulance to establish first aid posts all around the territory.