By JESSE GRAHAM
HEALESVILLE residents with spare time and a passion for helping others are being urged to put on the orange jumpsuit and join their local SES.
The SES unit announced late last month that it was looking for new volunteer recruits to come on board, to bolster numbers of active and associate members ahead of a busy year.
Unit spokesperson, Maria Lastra, said that active members would assist the unit for road accident rescues, animal rescues, land searches and working to help people during emergencies, such as floods.
Associate members, meanwhile, might help with fund-raising, community education, administration or running Driver Reviver stations, or vehicle and tool maintenance.
“They can just be associate members, or people who want to help out in the office,” she said.
“Everything’s an option – it’s not a forced role of any kind, it’s all what they’re comfortable with.”
Ms Lastra said the unit was made up entirely of volunteers, and that members could complete nationally accredited courses in, for things such as Undertake Land Search Rescue, Undertake Road Crash Rescue, Chainsaw Operator, Map and Navigation, among others.
“People assume we just do tree jobs – they’re not aware that we’re the control agency for rescue,” she said.
An example of a recent rescue was on 16 February, when the unit was called out to rescue a sheep stuck in a dam on a property, after it was found stuck belly-up, with its snout barely above the water.
After five people tried to pull the sheep out, the crew used a four-wheel-drive winching system and harnesses to pull the animal to safety.
Other jobs can be helping to remove trees, such as one that recently fell onto the Yarra Valley Railway line, stopping the railmotor from reaching the Tarrawarra Tunnel.
Ms Lastra said the unit had 30 members currently, with 20 active members – and that a goal had been set to double the number of members.
People of all ages are able to sign up, with people aged from 18 to into their eighties currently in the unit.
The unit’s active members are required to attend Monday night training sessions, to keep their skills up-to-date.
To sign up for the SES, call 5962 4452, visit www.ses.vic.gov.au/volunteer or visit the Healesville depot on Argoon Road on Monday evenings.
