By Michael Doran
Healesville fire-fighter, Commander Mick Tisbury has been awarded the Australian Fire Services Medal in recognition of his 29 years of distinguished service to the community and his fellow firefighters.
In his career Mr Tisbury has served as an operational firefighter, training instructor and an officer on the ground and is also Vice-President of the United Firefighters Union
His citation says that he has ‘demonstrated exceptional performance over a prolonged period, particularly in relation to the continuing development of training performance standards and his strong leadership in delivering a safety culture within the training environment’.
He has been a tireless advocate for a thorough and open investigation into the use of hazardous substances, or PFAS, at the Fiskville training site, where he was an instructor on and off between 2001 and 2012. His doggedness was based on his concern for the health of all firefighters and getting to the bottom of what substances they were exposed to.
“All I ever wanted, from the word go, was to get to the truth,” he said. “I saw getting to the truth as part of my responsibility to all firefighters and to those in the community who are affected by this issue.”
In this area he has led the establishment of world-leading standards and practices and has been invited to make a presentation to the Stockholm Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants, held in Geneva in April.
“We are leading the world in decontaminating fire-trucks and equipment and are now working with other fire services, in Australia and overseas, to help them with their own legacy issues”.
Asked about being recognised with the medal he said it came as a big surprise and was totally unexpected.
“As an MFB Commander and union vice-president I have just been doing my job, trying to ensure the safety of firefighters and the public.I’m just a bloke doing a job I love the best way I can.”
