By JESSE GRAHAM
WHEN PEOPLE think of volunteering for emergency services, they think of car crashes, bushfires and risking life and limb.
All of those things are often accurate, but Healesville SES Controller Geoff Stott said that action-packed incidents are not part and parcel of the job.
“The first thing they think of is road crash – but it’s about two per cent of what we do,” he said.
Mr Stott, who started with the SES nearly 14 years ago, said the majority of the crew’s work was clearing trees when they came down over roads, driveways or houses.
Along with fund-raising, community awareness campaigns, search and rescue, and helping with storm recovery, Mr Stott said the job was varied, but had its rewards.
“A lot of people don’t like road crash, but it can be very rewarding, if you have somebody trapped in a vehicle and you get them out, and you find out later that they’re fine and running around,” he said.
The Healesville SES crew is made up entirely of volunteers, and run mostly from community donations, so each new volunteer is worth their weight in gold to the service – unfortunately, new members can be few and far between.
“It’s like asking ‘how long is a piece of string?’” Mr Stott said.
Though four prospective new members turned up at last Monday’s meeting, raising the crew’s number to nearly 40 members, Mr Stott said the group has had blocks of two-to-three years without a new recruits coming along.
Currently, the SES is looking for ‘non-active’ members – members who can assist with administrative tasks like accounting, book-keeping, fund-raising and help with finances.
“We would like to find retired accountants, book-keepers or anything like that to help with admin,” Mr Stott said.
“It’s not a big role, but it’s a role that needs to be taken care of – you’re probably looking at two, three hours a week.”
With a crew of nearly 40 members, an area where the SES is still lacking, according to Mr Stott, is in having active members who are able to attend call-outs during daylight hours.
Anyone interested in volunteering with the Healesville SES can visit the depot on Argoon Road in Healesville, at 7.30pm on Mondays, or call Geoff Stott on 0404 362 544.
To express interest in joining a local SES crew, visit www.ses.vic.gov.au
