Over the last few weeks our local fire brigades have attended a number of escaped hazzard reduction burns . Although only small ALL had the potential to cause major problems given a change in the weather.
PLEASE remember to ☆ Register your burn with the Tasmania Fire Service on 1800 000 699 ☆ Have adequate water and hose available to do the entire area ☆ Understand the time needed to conduct the burn and if you may need help in doing it safely ☆Be courteous let your neighbour's know your plans ☆ Check the weather forecast , is the wind going to pickup or change direction ☆ Ask your self do I need to burnoff? Is there a more appropriate way of reducing the hazzard , can it be removed or modified by mechanical means , can it be slashed or sprayed , can I get some stock to eat it. ★★★ no matter what you decide it's YOUR RESPONSIBILITY For more info www.fire.tas.gov.au Food for thought from one of our great Volunteers
You are driving home, its been a big day shopping etc.. All of a sudden an animal is in your path. Instant reaction is to swerve, you loose control and the rest is a blur. The car is at a strange angle and you can‘t move. There seems to be a lot of something hot and sticky; whose blood is that and why can‘t I move? Gosh! My foot is at a strange angle and is caught on something. People have pulled up and are trying to help; I think someone has called triple ‖0‖. Everything is happening so slowly, why can‘t I get out, and from where is all this blood coming? I can hear sirens in the distance; well won‘t be long now; feeling pretty tired. The police have arrived , and I think the ambos, but they are struggling to get access. How is my partner? Was someone with me or not? The fire brigade has arrived and made sure there is no chance of fire. The police have called the fire brigade from the south, as they have extraction gear, as the local SES haven‘t arrived. What is their problem? They have all the gear. The problem is three are at work, and too far away to respond , one is overseas, one has the flu, one has an injured hand, etc. etc. so one of the best equipped units in Tasmania sits idle in the depot. With an average age of 57, we are struggling to get a team together. Last week there was nobody to attend an incident, which luckily was not life threatening like the scenario listed above. What a great picture in this publication last week of the footy team, lots of fit young blokes, the cream of the community. Guys we need help before the above scenario becomes fact. signed SES member for the last 10 years. Do you know who to call?
So we all should know that in an Emergency we dial triple zero (or 112 from our mobile phones) but did you know that there are other numbers for our emergency services for non life threatening emergencies. That’s right another group of numbers that will get you help when your roof blows off your house, to report irresponsible driving or a noisy party or to register your controlled burn off. In the coming weeks the emergency services will be distributing a magnet with these numbers on it as part of a community awareness project to better equip or community to deal with emergencies and non- emergencies alike. If you have a LIFE threatening EMERGENCY and need immediate assistance Dial 000 for POLICE, FIRE or Ambulance When you call Triple Zero (000) · Stay calm , speak slowly , answer the operator’s questions · Tell them who you want Police, Fire or Ambulance · Tell them exactly where you are – give an address or location · Only use 000 for emergencies If you need assistance due to flooding or storms call 132 500 for SES assistance. Need Police for a non-emergencies call the Police assistance line on 131 444 Tasmania Fire Service on 1800 000 699 can deal with all your enquiries from registering your controlled burn offs to information on the type of vegetation appropriate to your area. Poisons Information Centre 131 126 for all of your poison related information Don’t forget that during storms we sometimes loose power and that most of our devices in our homes now require electricity to operate. Recently many people lost their home phones due to lighting strikes , do you have another means of getting assistance if this is unavailable , do you have a old fashioned land line not just a cordless phone that is reliant on the power to operate . Many of us living on our own need to think about having a good relationship with our neighbours and close friends, would anyone know if you were hurt or unwell in the event you were unable to get to the phone. How long could it be before you were missed and someone came looking? There are many great services out in our community have a chat to your local GP , pharmacist , health care worker or even friends to get assistance . We are a very tight community but sometimes people just need help and need to ask for assistance. The community is filled with great people that freely volunteer their time for the betterment of the area. For more information checkout our local SES website www.swansea-ses.weebly.com Stay Safe Kelvin Jones Another year has passed us by and unlike previous years our municipal area was left relatively unscathed.
This is some what contradicted by our operational figures .Incident callouts have risen by 37% on the previous year. Motor vehicle accident callouts have risen 40% whilst all other incident types have not had any major differences noticed on last year reports. Again this year no serious injuries were incurred at any of the motor vehicle accidents attended by the unit (the figures on MVA’s are also believed to be slightly down on the actual accidents occurring in the area due to the services not being required e.g. Vehicles being attended to by RACT etc. Major forcible entry was not required at any of the incidents attended by the unit. . It would appear that driver error / inattention was the cause of most accidents. As with previous years our SES volunteers have had a close working relationship with the other emergency services, this was shown with SES volunteers providing lighting, welfare and traffic control at a structural fire in Cranbrook as well as provide lighting to an ambulance callout involving the helicopter. Volunteers also assisted Tas Ambulance and Parks with a stretcher carry off the Wine Glass Bay track where a young boy had fallen and sustained a suspected broken ankle. As with previous years our region goes from one extreme to the other so where would we be without floods and storms, volunteers responded to 7 flood related callouts primarily for precautionary sand bagging. Crews also patrolled the highway to Cranbrook and placed road signage where necessary. A storm response to the Swansea Council offices saw members secure and reaffix sheets of roofing iron to the front section of the building; this was done in adverse conditions on a slippery roof. A total of 35 incidents were attended by our volunteers last financial year this equated to 140 operational person hours. This was supported by our training both regional and local; training has increase by 10% on last year thus showing that our members are still maintaining a high skill level. Training included 41events with some 550 person hours. Training this year has included courses conducted by regional staff in communications, chainsaw operations, and storm damage and team leaders. At a unit level we have had a strong focus on our primary role of road crash rescue mixed with lighting, storm damage and search and rescue. Major exercises have helped in our training efforts with exercises conducted in the operation of our roof top safety systems on Morris’s store roof, vehicle extrication techniques and patient care with the local ambulance officers. This year’s training was finalised with a joint services exercise held in Maria street Swansea where two cars had crashed into each other with four patient requiring extrication and varying levels of medical care , this day was a great success and everyone took something away from the experience . We are currently undertaking a review of our current training props and needs and organising items that will help to make our training experience more challenging and realistic. Items recently purchased include a smoke machine for use with motor vehicle training, we have also been lucky to find a source of expired fire extinguishers for training purposes which has gave our volunteers a better understanding of the usefulness of these items. Our volunteers also attended the following events providing both static and rescue displays, Swansea Craft fair, Australia Day Fun Day, Hawks Footy Day and the Swansea Christmas Parade. Traffic management was provided for the Colesbay 100 Triathlon and the Tour De Cure signature bike ride. We are very lucky to have a small unit of dedicated volunteers always ready to assist the community and to maintain their skill levels at such a high standard. All members should be proud of the effort they have put in over the past twelve months. As a unit we have also been undertaking the process of updating our equipment audit adding year of purchase as well as Electrical testing details a Work place health and safety audit has also been undertaken and will now be conducted every year. Promotion of the unit has continued with an online presence on face book as well as our website, thanks to council for organising the link from the council front page. Items such a key rings , drink holders , pens and mugs all displaying our unit logo , triple zero , ses 132 500 and web site address have also be very popular . They help to provide ongoing promotion of both the unit and the vital phone numbers. Milestones for members last financial year were Lindsay Houchen receiving his ten year medal and Kelvin Jones his 15 year pin. Again all of these activities would not be possible without the commitment of our volunteers a minimum of 40 hours has been put in to keeping thing running outside of training and incidents, this doesn’t include the administration hours spent by the various members on reports and correspondence. I was also personally very lucky to attend a volunteer’s leadership course at the Australian Emergency Management Institute at Mount Macedon last December this was very rewarding and beneficial and many lessons learnt have already been put into practice at our unit level. As usual we extend an invitation to council management, staff and councillors to attend the unit and see what we do and offer our great municipality its residents and passing tourists. We appreciate all that council has done to support our volunteers during the year and look forward to this continued support into the future. We also look forward to the possibility of new premises for our emergency services in Swansea allowing us to better cater for our volunteers, council, the community and the traveling public in our municipal area. With the increasing number of gadgets at our disposal are increasinly bombarded with distractions put before us. Weather it be the mobile phone , the satelite navigation or the ipod and ipad . These aee all distractions we are seeing more and more in our every day driving experience . How many time have we been driving when the phone rings ? Do we A. Answer the call B. Leave the phone alone C.Reject the call and continue driving . Many of us make the descission to answer the call and risk the chance of fines from the police , risk the lives of our pasengers and other road users.
We brashly drive through school zones , shopping zones and our highways with phone to our ears. Answering the phone we take our eyes of the road sometimes not just for a moment but quite often long enough gor things to change infront of us. The next time the phone rings whilst driving think what if ? What if a child steps out in front of you , an animal or car suddenly appears ? Could you react in time if juggling your phone . Many new vehicles now have standard blue tooth technology use it , get to now how it works. Satelite navigation or GPS Navigation if not used properly can all become a major distraction , never try and alter setting or destinations whilst on the move, make sure everything is set prior to departure. Even the humble CD player and radio is not without its down falls , changing CD's or adjustingnthe radio whilst driving can be a major distraction and should be avoided. Whilst we have all be guilty of driving disracted we must refrain from these practises and strive to become safer drivers. The using of mobile phones and other such devices whilst devices whilst driving is an offence and has the ability to take lives if the worst case scenario happens. Next time you jump behind the wheel and go to answer the phone , change the CD or adjust your navigation take a moment and think is it really worth the risk , I have got their number I can ring them back. If it is really important they can leave a messsage. Remember a minute is not that long in a life time. What’s the single most precious thing we put in our motor vehicles?
OUR CHILDREN! So why do so many of us put them in danger every time we get behind the wheel? With newer cars comes newer technology. Airbags not only for the driver but the passenger, curtain airbags for side protection, seatbelt pretensioners, stability and traction control. These are all there for the safety of the occupants, but only if used properly and in accordance with the makers’ instructions. Many new vehicles now carry warning messages about airbags on the sun visors. Messages of “WARNING Death or Serious injury can occur “ · Children 12 and under can be killed by the air bag · The back seat is the Safest place for children · NEVER put a rear- facing child seat in the front · Sit as far back as possible from the airbag · ALWAYS use SEAT BELTS and CHILD RESTRAINTS I am sure we have all seen messages like this at some time in our driving life but what do they really mean? What are the implications? Airbags are designed to work instantly to help cushion the impact of an accident, deployment times are approximately 0.03 of a second (quicker than a human eye can blink). Airbags are designed to adult specifications, that is why we need to place smaller children in approved methods of restraint to give them the best chance in the case of an accident and not in the front seats. An extract for the RACT states “My child has turned seven, does that mean he/she can now move out of their booster seat? The law states that children seven years and over must use an approved child restraint or properly adjusted and securely fastened seat belt while sitting on the vehicle seat. The average seven year old cannot fit an adult seatbelt correctly, in fact, most children cannot wear the adult seatbelt correctly until 10 to 12 years of age. Vehicle seats and seatbelts are designed for adult bodies so it is highly unlikely that your child will fit an adult seatbelt when he/she reaches their seventh birthday. A booster seat needs to be used until they can. Children that move into an adult seatbelt too early are twice as likely to suffer devastating injuries in a crash, including severe damage to the brain, liver, spleen, stomach and spinal cord. Seatbelt fit will vary from vehicle to vehicle and even from position to position in the same vehicle.There are now several models of booster seat on the market that will accommodate children up to the height needed to wear the adult seatbelt correctly”. Recent surveys of vehicles fitted with child restraints by the RACT found that many didn’t comply with current regulations and were used by the wrong aged children. Many were second hand and in some cases were deemed to be unsafe. Further information on this can be obtained from the RACT (www.ract.com.au or see their YouTube site search RACT child restraints) Whilst we have all done the wrong thing with restraining our children from time to time we can no longer be complacent, our roads have become busier, the motorists on them often don’t know the roads and our environmental conditions are changing with the weather being much dryer than usual so when we do get rain it makes the roads very slippery .Of course the price of these restraints have meant that the cheaper hand me down alternative is often sought. If in doubt it checked prior to using it. We all know that we cannot put a price on life. Remember the single most precious thing we put in our vehicles isn’t the shiny new set of mags, the large bulbar on the front or the fantastic bright led lights. It’s our next generation of Doctors, Teachers, Shop Assistants and volunteers. It’s our children and Grandchildren who rely solely upon us to keep them safe at all times. That extra minute to get to the shop or the school isn’t really going to matter to much in the grand scheme of things in the end. Let’s all take that extra minute to make sure all of our precious things are properly restrained in our vehicles. Because a minute is not that long in a life time! Kelvin Jones Unit Manager Glamorgan Springbay SES |
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April 2020
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