“The scenario was designed to align with the key outcomes each agency was hoping to achieve and was set in rugged terrain that was accessible only by four-wheel drive or on foot.
VIC Police were initially called to a ‘welfare check / missing person’ at a “bush doof” in the hills around Trawool, and arrived on scene to music blasting, intoxicated members of the public running everywhere and two vehicles that had crashed with multiple people trapped in each vehicle (including Site Manager: Greg Baylis, Project Engineer: Charlie Hyles and Design Manager: Peter Tamblyn).
VICSES Seymour were paged as the closest unit and quickly requested a backup unit due to the number of vehicles and casualties. Then it was a rush to remove all the required equipment from the rescue truck and place it into the two four-wheel drives that would access the scene.
The team worked quickly and were soon on their way to scene where they found total chaos! The intoxicated members of the public were loud and belligerent, the music was blasting and members from all agencies were everywhere.
SES COMMANDER Ben took charge for SES, and an EMT (emergency management team) was formed with VIC Police, Ambulances Victoria and County Fire Authority to work out the best plan of action. Due to the size of the event and location of each vehicle, two crew leaders were identified (including our Project Administrator, Bridget Robinson) and teams (including Project Manager: Nick Leggat) spilt in order to work effectively on each vehicle.
What started as chaos with no direction and people trying their best with no plan quickly evolved into two distinct areas working independently to achieve the best outcome for the casualties under the watchful eye of Ambulances Victoria.
County Fire Authority members were utilised to keep the fires under control as well as for the removal of a large tree that had fallen between the two scenes, they also jumped in where needed with casualty handling and assisted our teams with hard protection, tool use and casualty extrication.”
A fantastic initiative from our first responders in VIC; St Hilliers is proud to contribute towards building a safer community!
