WOW factor: Special day celebrates SES volunteers
WOW Day celebrates the hard work of State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers, who have tirelessly served to keep our community safe, particularly during the recent flood crisis. The 22nd of May was official Orange day or WOW day, where we recognise...
Wednesday, May 22 was Wear Orange Wednesday (WOW), a special day to honour the hard work of State Emergency Service (SES) volunteers.
“We just want to say thank you to all our New South Wales SES volunteers,” said Deb Muddiman, the south-eastern zone volunteer strategy officer.
Events to celebrate the SES were held around the south-east zone. Deb was in Crookwell, where children took part in activities including throw bags. Similar events were held in Shellharbour and Wollongong.
“We've got Paddy the Platypus here and the kids are just having lots of fun,” Deb said.
The day was also a chance to share safety messages and ensure people know what to do, especially during storms.
“During storm events or flooding events, it's really important to heed all of our safety messaging,” Deb said.
“The most important thing is to never go into flood water – so never ride, drive or play in floodwater if we can.
“If our volunteers don't need to respond to a flood rescue, that's a really good day for us.”
There are 1400 volunteers spread across the zone and so far this year they have already received 5000 requests for help.
“We do call-outs for everything, so that ranges from different storm activity,” said Deb.
Jobs may vary from helping tar up a leaking roof to removing trees on properties to attending road crash rescues. In some instances, they help other first responders, from the police to the Rural Fire Service.
“One of the main things with our SES volunteers is that there are highly trained emergency service responders,” Deb said.
“So especially with our road crash rescue units, our vertical rescue units, they're out there really supporting their communities.”
Wednesday was also a chance to encourage people to be prepared.
“If a storm's coming, make sure you're cleaning out your gutters, make sure that you're prepared for these storms,” Deb said.
“It will help our SES volunteers when responding to emergencies as well.”
While WOW Day recognised SES volunteers, Deb also wanted to say thank you to their families.
“Some of our volunteers are giving up family dinners, family events and things like that to keep the community safe,” Deb said.
For those interested in volunteering, the SES is not all about high-risk situations – there are lots of other ways to lend a hand.
“You can choose your own pathway within your volunteering experience,” Deb said.
“So that could be from administrative roles, social media roles, community engagement roles, right up to our road crash rescue roles.
“The amount of training is dependent on what you do and all the training is paid for by the NSW SES.”
If you'd like to volunteer, visit the SES website.
