Great Southern SES volunteers represent WA at National Disaster Rescue Challenge in Queensland

A crew of Great Southern State Emergency Service volunteers represented WA in the National Disaster Rescue Challenge earlier this month, going head-to-head with experienced teams from around the country.

The Great Southern crew travelled to the Atherton Tablelands in Far North Queensland on September 12 to take on the annual nationwide challenge, in which SES crews tackle a series of simulated rescue scenarios and earn points for their skill, efficiency and teamwork.

The fictional scenarios are designed to simulate real-life situations crews could be dropped into when they are dispatched to emergency calls back home.

The WA team, made up of SES volunteers from around the Great Southern and led by Albany manager Ben Whittle, tackled eight challenges over the weekend, with the wide range of scenarios designed to push the teams to the limit and test their skills under pressure.

Host State Queensland, represented by the Gold Coast SES unit, were named overall champions for the weekend, with New South Wales coming in runner-up.

While the WA crew, nicknamed the Black Swans, didn’t take home a prize this year, Mr Whittle said it was a great experience for Great Southern volunteers to learn from some of the best in Australia.

“It was the first time our crew had done a competition like this, so it was a great experience for us,” he said.

“This is the first time in a long time the call went out to the regions to represent WA — usually the metro teams do it.

“It was a great opportunity for us to be able to go and represent our State and represent the Great Southern.”

The challenges included a hot air balloon crash, a mass casualty incident, a boat crash, a chemical incident, angled rescues, and navigation challenges — all very different scenarios, and all designed to challenge the teams’ rescue abilities.

“We had eight challenges over two days, so they really kept us on our toes,” Mr Whittle said.

“It was a huge weekend but I feel like the team did really well.

“One of the most memorable challenges was a scenario where there was a wedding party stuck on a boat, so they were all acting drunk, yelling and screaming, and trying to overwhelm us.

“That was very interesting to deal with.

“There were a lot of scenarios that I couldn’t ever see the Albany team getting called to in real life, so it was great to have a go at something different and really put our skills to the test.

“I was super proud of the team all weekend. They worked really well together and when it got tough they just kept pushing through. The camaraderie was fantastic all weekend.”