VICSES volunteers bolster search capacity with large-scale exercise

More than 60 Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) volunteers from across metropolitan Melbourne have strengthened their search capacity, as part of a multi-agency exercise earlier this week.

Volunteers from VICSES Heidelberg, Nillumbik, Fawkner, Whitehorse and Footscray gathered at the Springthorpe housing estate near Macleod on Monday evening, undertaking a simulated search for a single patient through urban and bushland environments.

Joining VICSES volunteers were members of Victoria Police and staff from nearby La Trobe University, as crews undertook a series of targeted search efforts to locate their ‘patient’, a diabetic whose treatment for the condition was more than six hours overdue.

The exercise required emergency crews to work closely with their crew leader to ascertain the patient’s likely behaviours and clothing, before forensically ground-searching several acres between the Polaris Shopping Centre and Macleod’s Dunvegan Estate.

The search effort saw several members utilise bikes to quickly navigate the terrain, further supporting the dynamic nature of the exercise, while other volunteers and emergency personnel undertook the search on foot.

Other VICSES volunteers were also tasked with managing the search effort from an incident control point, communicating directives to volunteers via radio and monitoring the search zone.

VICSES maintains a strong working relationship with its emergency service partners, and volunteers often train with their VICSES neighbours and alongside other specialist personnel in a range of scenarios to strengthen and refine their overall emergency response.

In the last 12 months, VICSES volunteers across the state have been paged to provide support to other agencies almost 3000 times.

VICSES members also work closely with their emergency service partners at a variety of incidents including road crash and high angle rescue.

To find out more about volunteering with VICSES, visit https://www.ses.vic.gov.au/join-us.

Quotes attributable to Shane Frost, VICSES Heidelberg Unit Controller

“Undertaking large-scale training exercises are a fantastic way to ensure our volunteers gain valuable experience in a dynamic emergency setting.

“We enjoy every opportunity we get to work and train alongside our VICSES neighbours and emergency service partners.”