There was a certain amount of expectation during the family Christmas
lunch. My partner and I knew that the bushfire situation was becoming serious,
and that the pager was likely to interrupt any expectation of a leisurely
afternoon. Inevitably, that expectation was fulfilled. My partner
took off with a “see you later”. In the back of my mind I knew it could
be hours before we crossed paths again. I said my goodbyes to the children
and family with a more realistic “I’ll call,” and set off to pick up my equipment
and head into the Wollongong SES Headquarters on Montague Street.
Very quickly I was deployed as the SES liaison officer at the Emergency
Operations Centre (EOC), at Council chambers. Here I made decisions
regarding our members, who are all volunteers, and their deployment -- a
role that quickly made me appreciate the resourcefulness of SES members and
the diversity of their skills. We were initially required to assist
with preparing and carrying out evacuations in the northern suburbs.
Having only three response vehicles meant that our Unit's resources were
being stretched to the limit. As we had the members available to deploy in
the field we were forced to hire additional vehicles, a difficult task on
a public holiday which was complicated by the fact that hire vehicles are
not equipped or set up as our Unit’s response vehicles are. As other tasks
loomed, we knew that we would need to call on other SES Units. The
Kiama and Shellharbour Units responded with the efficiency that SES discipline
and training encourage.
The list of tasks for our members continued to expand. A flood of
members were assisting at Helensburgh and Otford -- but still the EOC was
asking for more of our members to help register evacuated people and staff
the call centre. All available members, even those who had only just completed
initial training, were taken from their Christmas rituals and plunged head-on
into the turmoil of emergency response.
Within the EOC I communicated constantly with the officers in the field
to sustain a clear vision of the situation, so that our volunteers could
meet the demands required of them from the EOC. At the end of my shift
on the first night, I drove past the Wollongong Entertainment Centre, and
as I saw the people displaced from this catastrophe a heavy tugging at my
chest began. At that point it all became more poignant, and I felt
the importance of what we were doing.
The long hours and demands of being constantly alert for those in the field,
at headquarters and in the EOC created a sense of energy that sustained us
without making us euphoric or careless. The weary eyes at shift change became
familiar as members headed home and fresher members went into the field, aware
they would look and feel the same in good time.
Over the next week, our members developed a routine, and regained some of
their initial energy. Our duties involved distributing food, assisting
with road blocks and transporting equipment, security at the helicopter refuelling
site and using our flood boats at the catchment dams should firefighters need
to be evacuated from the fire ground.
Food distribution proved to be the most demanding task. The firefighters
worked in rapidly changing situations, and often had moved locations by the
time their meals were delivered. This required our members to travel
the rugged fire trails to reach them, which often meant it could take two
or three hours to get the food to them and not possible with our hired vehicles.
The frustration was becoming evident as the days dragged into weeks, and the
hours on duty often went outside the rostered shifts.
It’s the diversity of training the State Emergency Service provides that
allowed the members of Wollongong City and other Units to undertake
the enormous range of tasks required of them during the Christmas bushfires.
Every member on one of our crews in the field has, at a minimum, training
in general rescue, teamwork, working with the public, first aid and radio
communication. Storm-damage training came in handy for tarping and securing
partially damaged buildings. SES chainsaw operators removed and secured
trees that posed a danger. Flood-boat operators helped with transport and
evacuation. Operations-centre and logistics staff used their training
in incident management, operational procedures and working with the media.
Our core role is responding to floods and storms, but our training aims to
produce a versatile and resourceful volunteer service that can respond to
many different and unpredictable situations.
We may have been cheated of Christmas and New Year celebrations, but knowing
that we were there for the community when they needed us -- and trained and
ready to help -- is a satisfaction that no wrapping or ribbons could ever
beat.
|
