SES crash award

By Tania Martin
EMERALD’S State Emergency Service unit has proven its ability to work under pressure recently winning second place at the 2005 Road Crash Rescue Challenge.
In 20 minutes the team managed to stabilise a vehicle which was on top of a fallen power pole, then safely extracted a casualty from between the car and the pole.
This was done as a part of 20-minute scenario event at the 2005 Road Crash Rescue (RCR) Challenge on Saturday, 19 and Sunday, 20 November at Carrum Downs.
Emerald SES team leader Andrew Buck said the challenge benefited not only the unit but the local community because it gave SES crews the chance to practise new rescue skills without putting anybody at risk.
“This is the first time the Emerald unit has entered a team into the RCR Challenge and we came second, which far exceeded my expectations,” he said.
The challenge included three events, the unlimited 20-minute rescue scenario, the rapid 10-minute rescue, and a limited 20-minute rescue.
The challenge events involved a dummy casualty in a real-life road accident situation, where SES teams across Victoria were required to perform vehicle stabilisation, first aid, and safe casualty extraction.
Mr Buck said the unlimited and rapid scenarios required the use of rescue tools such as the so-called Jaws of Life and powered hydraulics.
He said the Emerald team came second in the limited 20-minute event, which involved using initiative with the help of very few tools.
Team members Andrew Buck, Sophie Taylor, Harry Zisses, Haydn Davies, Jim Waring and Martin Hill had been training of the challenge for the last nine months, with the assistance of the former World and Victorian RCR champions, Bacchus Marsh SES.
Mr Buck said the team wanted to express their appreciation for the time and effort Bacchus Marsh put into training them and that without that help the team couldn’t have achieved what it did.