Andrew, an Ipswich SES member from Rosewood walks the site in search of the ‘injured’ person. Photos: LYLE RADFORD
Kylie an Ipswich SES team member from Rosewood begins her assessment of the injured woman.
The injured man is found in the bucket of the machine with electrical burn injuries to both hands making it impossible for him to climb out. Andrew from Ipswich SES is on hand to keep him calm while other members of the team plan the best way to lift him out.
IT was ‘game on’ for the teams from Ipswich, Logan and the Gold Coast competing in the SES South East Disaster Rescue competition, recently.
A win would mean the team would have the honour of representing the South East Region in the state championships with the nationals as the ultimate target.
The event was hosted by the Scenic Rim SES who provided the ‘casualties, the lost and the injured’ and caterers for the Sunday event.
One of the Scenic Rim SES members, Graham Stumer, said the set up for the four ‘disaster and rescue’ scenarios was done on the day and overseen by the staff from the South East Region headquarters,
The four scenarios were a map and navigation exercise in a local park, a search and rescue with a forensic search in a machinery yard, storm damage repairs at the Boonah Showgrounds cattle yards and a mass casualty situation under the main showground pavilion.
It was serious business and a valuable training exercise, as well as a competition.
An example of the level of difficulty involved was the mass casualty exercise at the showgrounds.
“It was set up under the main pavilion,” Graham said.
“It was a night time rescue of six injured people. Everything was blacked out and a maze was set up.
“They had to find the casualties, give immediate support and carry them out.”
Each team was kept separate from the other teams and each team undertook all the four exercises throughout the day.
“It all had to be done precisely and the judges provided by headquarters point scored each team, in each situation.”
The overall win went to the team from the Gold Coast.
“They scored 583 points, while Logan came second with 553 points and Ipswich came third with 521 points,” Graham reported.
There were eight members in each of the four teams, 12 staff from South East Region and 38 Scenic Rim SES and other volunteers involved in the exercise.
