Female Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) Barwon Southwest volunteers will come together for a training event celebrating women in emergency occupations.
Women in Rescue (WIR) will be held at 90 Furner Avenue, Bell Park, on March 16 for volunteers to get hands-on experience with tools and equipment.
VICSES Bellarine Unit Volunteer Rachel Vella said WIR was a great way to share rescue skills in a safe environment.
“When we have our orange on, we all take on a wide variety of roles, including flood response, road crash rescue and searches for missing people,” she said.
“Women in Rescue is designed to help modify training techniques to suit members with varying strengths and capabilities and empower women to showcase their skills.”
The Bellarine event will feature volunteers tackling skills-based scenarios, like casualty handling techniques, incident management work and learning how to complete field observations.
VICSES chief executive Greg Leach said the event would occur in eight Victorian locations and had the largest attendance ever recorded, with close to 250 female VICSES volunteers state-wide.
“Women in Rescue is a fantastic event where women can come together to share skills and techniques in the rescue space,” he said.
“We’ve managed to double our participant size this year, which is magnificent for our women attending and women from other agencies.
“Women can experiment with different techniques and handling of equipment and share this back within the agency and their fellow volunteers.
“Our female first responders are incredible, and attend highly complex, challenging incidents… The event showcases their life-saving skills, using latest rescue technology and training.”
WIR events will run in the Barwon Southwest, Southern Metro, Bangholme, Gippsland, Hume, Loddon Mallee, Northwest Metro, and Grampians.
Visit ses.vic.gov.au/join-us to volunteer with VICSES or for more information on being a volunteer.
