Regional SES volunteers took their training to the next level over the weekend (18-19 December), where Coonamble hosted an urban search and rescue skills training course, putting new skills to the test.

While SES volunteers undergo their own internal training to prepare them for challenges they may come across on the job, the urban search and rescue skills course is based on international standards from a world leading advisory group.

The course was led by SES member and leading assessor Ata Kivilcim, who travelled from his Cootamundra base to introduce lifesaving skills to the Western Plains.

“The crew today are learning how to deal with collapsed structures, mitigate their own safety and safety of the team, and do a search and rescue of potential entrapped victims within a pile of rubble,” Mr Kivilcim said.

The training was doused with realism, where trainees would crawl over sandbags to practice technique, before moving across to a larger pile of rocks, where they would undertake a search through the rubble.

While the training is usually for emergencies assigned to fire rescue departments, Mr Kivilcim said it’s important for SES members to have the knowledge in the scenario where they are called in as back up.

The optional course drew SES members from the Western Plains and further afield, with Coonamble and Gilgandra members joined by volunteers from Orange and Newcastle who wanted to build on their rescue skills.

Coonamble SES member John Lewis said that having the training day held locally is one step closer for local volunteers to be able to achieve their rescue accreditation.

“It shows the depth and breadth of what we can achieve here in Coonamble and that we’re not isolated from the rest of the state. We’ve got people from all over the state, and it’s good for them to see how it happens out west,” Mr Lewis said.

The training involved rescue simulations, where trainees were responsible for saving a life-size dummy.

While an extended harvest meant that many farmers and other workers planning to participate in the course were unable to attend, Mr Lewis found the silver lining to a smaller crew.

“Part of the joys of it being a smaller group with a lot of members out means that they’re getting a lot of one-on-one training. They should come out of this extremely well trained,” Mr Lewis said.

Since Covid-19, five members in the local Castlereagh SES cluster, which includes Coonamble, Gilgandra, and Baradine, have powered through various accreditations including industrial, rescue, road crash, and domestic.

“It’s a phenomenal effort from these guys, who have spent weekend after weekend training,” Mr Lewis said.

By mid-2022, the Castlereagh SES cluster is hoping to gain accreditation for four more members, bringing the number up to nine qualified rescue operators.

Constantly adding feathers in their caps, the team is also working on building their flood rescue and bush search and rescue capabilities.

“Hopefully we’ll be one of the better trained units in the Western area for rescue,” Mr Lewis said.