Not a volunteer.....FOLLOW THESE STEPS TO ASSIST for the greater good!!!

26th Feb 09 

 

Looking back on my past blog i can see i was pretty much on the money. Every weekend seems to bring another extreme weather event. I can’t speak for other VICSES vols, but i can speak for myself....i am exhausted!Organising members to send on deployments or to put on standby takes as much energy as actually being deployed! 

 

Ok so here is the latest sitrep for VICSES: 

 

Fire Situation:

 

As at 0700hrs Thursday 26 Feb 2009 CFA/DSE fire activity is centred around 6 main fires listed as ‘going’ across the State with a further 6 fires ‘going’ and 15 ‘contained’. The six key fires are: Wilsons Prom (22,500ha), Kilmore East Murrindindi Complex North (158,545ha), Kilmore East Murrindindi Complex South (80,129ha), Bunyip Fire (26,200), Muskvale – Hogans Road south of Daylesford (2702ha), Won Wron – Napier Road – 7km WNW of Woodside (1300ha). Total area affected by going fires is currently 291,376ha. The Upwey – Nixons Road Fire (354ha) is now regarded as contained with patrolling and blacking out to continue.Significant planning along with continued work on building fire control lines continues ahead of the next ‘Spike Day’ expected this Friday into Saturday. Additional fire fighters are scheduled to arrive in Victoria on Thursday ahead of Friday’s extreme fire danger weather. 

 

 

The Footscray Unit has received a total of 39 requests from members of the public wanting to join the Unit! Thats only over the last 4 days!!!!

 

Its great to see the amount of media coverage the Emergency Services get during these times. Spontaneous volunteering needs to be developed and the opportunity harnessed, because at the moment, with the amount of waiting for police checks, certifications and other training required, it makes it very difficult to utilise these people. But all is not lost. There are plans (as I have heard) of this fab new system they will hopefully introduce (as I said…its only something I have heard and yet to actually read of). A ‘passport’ which allows you to (for example) get a police check which you can use when joining a volunteer organisation without having to wait for the organisation to sign off and send the police check themselves (this process usually takes 4-6weeks) depending on current police demand. During extreme weather events, a combination of a surge in police check requests, and a decease in police performing ‘business continuity’ functions puts a strain on the system.  

 

BUT there is something you can do NOW:

-          get your first aid certification

-          get your OH&S certification

-          download and read up on the Emergency Management arrangements for state (can be quite cumbersome, but you will get to understand who is responsible for what during an emergency) 

 

If you really gung-ho and want to get involved in the ‘operations’:

-          enrol in a chainsaw course

-          get your medium rigid truck licence 

 

They are all great certifications to have during extreme weather events. I hope that VICSES embraces the general rescue fundamentals weekends, which provides the necessary MINIMUM qualification for members to be on call and to be deployed to assist the control agencies during these times. 

 

Stay tuned for more tips on how you can prepare if you are thinking of joining a volunteer emergency service. 

 

Take care Ruby  

 

 

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