TOPIC: International Volunteer Day!

It's International Volunteer Day today!

So, thanks to all our volunteers, whatever you do, whichever organisation you belong to.

You do such wonderful work and so many appreciate the time and effort you donate! You make your community a better place for it.

A special shout out to all the State Emergency Service, Rural Fire Service volunteers and Community First Responders out there!

Are you a volunteer in any organisation?


I'd love to hear about the many different roles people volunteer for.

Flooding in Australia

My heart aches every time I hear an update about the devastating floods in Australia at the moment.

SES volunteers

As a member of the volunteer NSW State Emergency Service, I've seen the damage and devastation storms and floods can reek on homes and communities. Losing a home or worse, a loved one, in a tragedy such as a flood, flash flood or drowning affects me the most. Sure, the physical cost of a disaster is staggering but it's the human cost that lives on in memory for years to come.

This morning I read 75% of the state of Queensland has been declared a disaster zone. The Northern Territory, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia have all been hit by flooding in the last few weeks or are in flood now. Entire towns, villages and communities have been isolated, inundated or are experiencing the worst floods in 50 (and in some cases 100) years.

The only states not flood declared are Tasmania (although they're on flood alert with heavy deluges expected today) and Western Australia (they're in drought and are suffering bushfires!).

The flooding in Queensland alone has affected over 20 cities and towns and 200,000 people, and 38 local council regions have been declared disaster zones.*

The cost to the national economy so far is estimated at $6 billion, with agriculture and mining at the top of that list, and this value will rise as the clean-up and long term affects on communities are counted.*

For anyone reading this from overseas, I've included a couple of maps to give you an idea of the scale of the flooding. There's one with the USA superimposed over Australia and another with Europe.

There's also a map of Australia (various colours) that show the rainfall we've had. Using that as an estimate, look at the light green, green, light blue, dark blue and purple areas on it and you can pretty much say that's all land affected by flooding. Now compare that land mass to your superimposed images of the USA or Europe. Staggering, isn't it?

The news can be a double edged sword - you see or read the good, bad and ugly of the disaster. The generosity of people helping out (not just those in paid jobs), the homes and livelihoods lost, the toll on whole communities (and this case the whole country), the deaths, and the lower-than-scum looters.

Rainfall Percentages chart from the Bureau of Meteorology

But the most heartening aspect, and something I hold onto each day when I switch on the TV to watch the news? The way Aussies pull together to support each other.

Volunteer and government services are working around the clock to provide rescue, evacuation, essential supply drops or emergency accommodation. People are opening their homes to evacuees or people stranded because they can't get home.

Volunteers assisting with storm damage

And we can't forget the Flood Relief Appeal. While people may not be able to help physically, many have contributed financially.

To date, nearly $33 million has been raised. And this doesn't count the aid (eg.emergency service manpower) we've been offered from overseas countries like New Zealand and the USA.

When times get tough the outpouring of support and help is overwhelming and certainly brings a tear to your eye.

To anyone who has helped in any way - donations, physical support, prayers, volunteering...thank you, thank you, thank you!

My Country
(by Dorothea McKellar)

(partial poem, verses selected)

I love a sunburnt country,

A land of sweeping plains,

Of ragged mountain ranges,

Of droughts and flooding rains.

I love her far horizons,

I love her jewel-sea,

Her beauty and her terror -

The wide brown land for me!

Core of my heart, my country!

Her pitiless blue sky,

When sick at heart, around us,

We see the cattle die -

But then the grey clouds gather,

And we can bless again

The drumming of an army,

The steady, soaking rain.

An opal-hearted country,

A wilful, lavish land -

All you who have not loved her,

You will not understand -

Though earth holds many splendours,

Wherever I may die,

I know to what brown country

My homing thoughts will fly.

Trained SES floodboat volunteers

* Figures, maps & some images from the internet article titled Queensland Floods, and the Australian Bureau of Meteorology site.
* SES photos from a variety of sources such as the NSW SES website (home site & individual units - Gundagai & Warringah) & The Australian newspaper.
* Poem by Dorothea McKellar taken from a website dedicated to the Australian poet.

Networking

A bit of a composite blog today - related to writing but not.
As an outing, and to develop camaraderie and foster the bonds of friendship, my Rural Fire Service unit have a social get-together every time there's a fifth Sunday in the month.
A couple of Sunday's ago we had our usual training session followed by a BBQ at my place. Partners and kids came too - they're often the silent ones when it comes to volunteering time to the unit. They give up their time with their family or help out with welfare (making food and delivering drinks when the RFS logistics stuff up).
The socialising is a chance to relax beyond the lines of the fire-front or outside the ranks of training. And I think we're a better unit for doing this. You get to know others through conversation, learning about their life experiences and skills you might never have known about, even mucking around and having fun with them. Nothing strengthens a group of people more than by training, working and having fun together.
While most of us have known each other ten years or more we have a couple of new members who're just starting out. One's an ex-student of mine (that makes me feel so old :-( ). He's going to benefit from the older members' experiences and with the socialising, he'll be able to relate to us as adult to adult now instead of adult to child, another layer to our bonding.
The same can be said of writing - new writers and established authors, within a structured setting such as a workshop as opposed to the cocktail party or morning tea at conference. Formal verses social, developing skills and building acquaintances or life-long friendships.
Are you developing a writing network? Writing or otherwise?
Care to share?

Big Red Fire Truck

Some of you might know from reading KYLIE'S WORLD on my website that I'm a volunteer firefighter with the NSW Rural Fire Service. It's far removed from plunking your butt in a chair and typing at the keyboard, and that's part of the reason why I joined up - it gets me out from behind the desk and doing something physical. I'm helping out my friends and others in my community/wider community and I'm challenging myself with new skills (not to mention feeding the imagination with a wider range of experiences!!!).

We train two Sunday mornings a month. My Captain has introduced me to the driver's seat of the big red fire truck. Why? We're a small unit - only 6 active members all up and usually there's only one licensed driver on the crew when we get called out. If anything happens to him out on the fire-front (he sprains an ankle or is injured) the crew will have a back-up driver who can get them out of there if need be.

During one particular training session, we headed out to a section of bush that had recently been burnt out by a major fire and where the fire trails were "easy" to drive. Think Fire Truck Orientation 101, not Advanced All-Terrain Course assessment course. I've driven a manual car, a farm ute, a forklift, a tractor, a farm-bike and quad-runner, but getting behind the wheel of a bloody big truck was something I've never done.

I learn several things pretty quickly...
a) the truck is wide, heavy and has 7 gears
b) there's no center mirror in a fire truck - you drive (or reverse) using the side mirrors only (I now have sooo much respect for heavy vehicle drivers)
c) the steering wheel is almost horizontal as opposed to vertical
d) you need a wide turning circle or you run into things or cut corners when you shouldn't (lucky I only snapped a few branches off a tree rather than a building)
e) it takes a lot to get use to the angles and capabilities a vehicle that size can negotiate without tipping or rolling over (no, I didn't manage that, thank goodness)
f) the pneumatic seat is sooo cool (I want one in my car!)
g) being the short-legged person I am, always move the seat back after you finish driving (or risk injuring your licensed driver as he tries to get back in the command seat and you find yourself having to use your new learned skills sooner than expected).

Apparently I passed my first driving lesson (and no, my Captain wasn't injured at the end of it, I remembered to adjust the seat just before I swapped sides :-P).

I conquered my first challenge, gained some confidence, and am looking forward to the next stint behind the wheel of the big red fire truck!

Photo: Our big red fire truck - practising the laying down of foam to protect the truck.

SES Training - Road Crash Rescue

Today I’ve spent 4hrs training in road crash rescue with 5 other members of our State Emergency Service unit (we only have 8 total), and I’m knackered.
Our scenario - we had a (fictional) casualty trapped in the vehicle turned on its side and we had to get her out using a full door and roof removal. So that meant we needed to stabilize the vehicle with pickets and holdfasts as well as acro props, carefully tip it back over onto its belly using the tirfor winch, stabilize it again with step blocks before taping up and smashing all the windows then remove the doors using a socket set as well as the spreaders before using a set of parrot beaks and combi-tool to cut off the roof.
Towards the end our trainer complicated the situation by telling us the casualty was pinned in the drivers seat by the steering wheel, so then we had to use the steering wheel chains and spreader to lift the wheel enough to free her legs before we could get her out.
Due to our geographic isolation, and with other emergency services that usually respond to road crash rescue being about 70kms away, our unit is one of several around the state accredited in road crash rescue - not all SES units do RCR.
This is the second training scenario we’ve conducted at this “accident site” and it’s been a great learning experience for everyone, especially our newbie members who are just starting their accreditation. For me it’s been a much needed refresher and the chance to be team leader this time around.
The sense of accomplishment after a day like today, even though some of us haven’t had the practical years of experience that a few of us do, is high as we all contributed something to the team effort. There’s also the realization that we may one day use these skills to save someone’s life.
I enjoy the practical elements of SES training as it’s so different to my regular day-job (teaching). While the unit is small and, at times, we often struggle for members, I wouldn’t swap the years I’ve had in the unit. The qualifications and training is worthwhile but it’s the strong bonds of friendship forged with members that keeps me going back every Tuesday night and the odd weekend of training - some of them I’ve known for almost 20 years (gosh, where does the time go???).