SESSarah rushes to the rescue

By Kath Gannaway
HEALESVILLE SES volunteer Sarah Aitken says ‘I’d like to think that if I was put in the same situation, people would be there doing it for me’.
It is what drives her to get up at all hours of the night, spend weekends and public holidays clearing trees from houses and roads and, perhaps most difficult of all, working as part of the road rescue team.
Sarah, 25, is one of a growing number of young people joining emergency service organisations such as SES and CFA.
Her cool-headed passion for the job and her ability to hold her own as part of the SES team makes her a great role model, and, in National Volunteer Week, perhaps inspiration for others to follow her lead.
Since joining up three years ago, Sarah said SES has become a huge part of her life.
“I’m a very social person, always out and about,” she says.
“Between working at Coles, going to the pool three times a week, and keeping up with family and friends, it’s a standing joke that I’m never home.
“You have to train very hard and with some of the things you do in the field, you have to know and trust your team members. You get to know those people very well and so it does become a social thing as well.”
Sarah says she is fortunate to have a job which supports her involvement with the SES.
“Coles have been very good. With road rescue, where it is so time critical, they understand that when the pager goes off, I have to leave.
“It can be tiring if you get called out and then have to go to work, but I do it because I would like to think if I were in that position, there would be someone there doing it for me.”
How does she cope with the horror of road smashes?
“My first road rescue was fairly minor compared to what some members experience. I guess I was lucky in the sense that I got eased into it slowly. It’s a job which needs to be done and it doesn’t worry me seeing the mess of it all. You just look at the scene, see what needs to be done and do it.”
Sarah says as part of a close-knit unit, members tend to talk with each other and have access to excellent peer-support facilities through SES.
“You can see the signs in others so you look for those signs in yourself and know you have to talk and get it out. You don’t have a chance to bottle it up.”
There are many opportunities for people of all ages and abilities to make a contribution as SES members – communication, fund-raising, administration and public awareness are just a few.
If you’re Sarah, you can also do your unit proud as a gold medal athlete. All that swimming practice paid off for Sarah who came away from the Emergency Service Games on 5 May with a gold medal in the 1500 metres freestyle.
Anyone who would like to know more about becoming an SES volunteer at Healesville can phone 5962 4452 on Monday nights, or Acting Controller, Karen Picone on 0419 354 072. For Upper Yarra SES the contact is Acting Controller, Steve Green, on 5967 1714 or 0418 534 532.