VITAL work in emergency situations can often go unnoticed, even when the heroes are decked out in bright orange jumpsuits.
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The teams and units that attend road rescues, fires and flood are made up solely of volunteers from the community.
Close to 5000 Victorian SES volunteers give up their own time every year.
Already this year 12 SES units made up of 120 volunteers helped in the four-day bushland search for Luke Shambrook.
SES crews have also responded to 10,000 requests this year for assistance after storms hit Victorian communities.
For many crew members it is a need to help and a want to serve their community that leads them to volunteering.
Almost seven years ago, Natalie Stanway began volunteering with the SES after Black Saturday.
“We used to live on the outskirts of Melbourne and the fire came quite close to us,” she said.
“I needed to help, I needed to do something, Fire isn’t my thing, I find it frightening as I’m sure other people do, so I volunteered with victim recovery.
“I thought it was something that I could do, so I joined within weeks of Black Saturday. I can’t imagine not being part of the SES.”
Since 2009, Natalie has a healthy respect for fire thanks to her training, but she would still rather storm and flood callouts.
But as well as supporting the community an helping in emergency situations, Natalie and her Bendigo SES team have become close friends.
“I enjoy the bond. We are a team and we work together so well,” she said.
“They are so professional but at same time know when it’s appropriate to lighten things up.
“I’m constantly in awe of these people who give up so much of themselves. They are all there to give back to community.”
Paramedic student Oscar Giggins joined the SES for hands-on experience as well as the chance to contribute to the community.
“It is something that helps me take the next step in my career. I will be able to help people in a more whole way,” he said.
“Everyone comes from different backgrounds and offers something completely different.
“When you pass a crash or see a tree down, you always see the SES out on the road. Although it can be a bit traumatising, you know what they are doing is a really important job.
“To give people a helping hand when they need it is something a lot of people can assimilate with.”
Looking back on her first few months with the SES, Natalie was almost overwhelmed by how much she had to learn.
“There was so much to learn. I am a reasonably practical person but I still had so much to learn. And some things to unlearn,” she said.
“Some things I used to know how to do, I had to learn the more safe way to do them.”
Bendigo SES operations officer Jason Hague said the Bendigo crew was very careful about how they approached jobs with newer members.
“We get them involved but keep them away from any gruesome stuff,” he said.
“We introduce them closer to scenes as their training and experience develops.”
When en route to a job, Jason said he often considered what they could be coming up against.
“You think about the conditions and the possibilities you could encounter,” he said.
“There are times when we still get shocked. I can think of a number of times where we have pulled up and asked ‘how did that happen?’
“But we compartmentalise it and do what we need to do. We do the best we can for the people that are there and come back for a debriefing.”
Debriefing after attending a scene is also important for SES crews.
Natalie said training could take over at scenes but afterwards, volunteers had time to reflect on what they may have seen.
“We train so rigorously that we know we have a job to do when we get there. There isn’t always time to react to a scene because we are there to do a job,” she said. “We do debrief afterwards and with significant jobs we have a system in place for peer support.
“If something hits a member close to home or if it’s a challenging job we definitely have peer support.”
The peer support often comes from other SES crews who have similar on-the-job experience.
“Even outside of a debrief we can contact them at any time. It’s important to know that resource,” Natalie said.
“The people know what we have experienced. It’s not like talking to someone who has had clinical training. It’s real-life experience as well as clinical training.”
As well as crew support, family support is important for SES volunteers.
“We are volunteers and all work (other jobs) in one form or another but we can’t do it without the support of our family or employers,” Natalie said.
I’m constantly in awe of these people who give up so much of themselves. They are all there to give back to community.
- Natalie Stanway