SES Cadets from Gundagai High School with members of the Emergency Services and Gundagai SES Unit.
Over the past 10 weeks, 12 students from Gundagai High School have participated in a Cadetship program through the Gundagai SES Unit and next week they will graduate from the program.
For two hours every Tuesday night, the Cadets experience a practical view into what is involved in being part of the SES, and offers hands-on training exercises, including vehicle cutting, rescue operations, storm damage response and knot-tying techniques.
Last week the program ran an Emergency Services Night, featuring demonstrations from Fire, Rescue, Police, Ambulance, and RFS personnel. These professionals showcased their roles and equipment, providing valuable insights into their services.
Ross Tout, SES Gundagai Unit Commander says the program has been a good introductionto what the SES does “This isthe first time the program has been run in Gundagai, and it has been good, the kids have really enjoyed it and it has worked well. We are thinking of doing it every couple of years to reach dif-ferent students each time.”
“About 2 years ago the SES decided to do a test case for cadetships, and that was in three units across NSW which went well, and so they got funding to do extra this year, so they offered it to several units across the state. We put our hand up in Gundagai to try, and we initially had 16 students interested but in the end 12 completed the course last night,” Ross said.
“The Cadets get a little introduction into what we do in the SES including storms, first aid, road crash, CPR, AEDs, emergency services day, flood rescue. They get to do a bit of all of these things.”
“The Cadets really loved the road crash. The SES is a multi-faceted agency, and they got an introduction to almost everything,” Ross said.
“The Cadets are now in the SES as Cadet members, and if they wish to they can now just tick a box, and they would become SES members and then they could undertake official training,” Ross said.
“The aim is to have cadetships at the high school, it is a good thing for the students, gives them a bit of outside experience,” Ross said.
The Cadets will receive a medallion and some gifts at their presentation next week as well as a certificate. If the Cadets wish to, they can then move on to a probationary period and then after 3 months they can be accepted into the unit.
“The Cadetship has worked, and hopefully I will get some new members into the unit, and most of the Cadets were really keen to get involved,” Ross said.
“It was great having all the emergency services there for one night because it shows that we all work together and that it is not just the SES that they are joining, it is the emergency services.”
Simon Bridgeman, Gundagai High School Principal says the program is a great initiative for the students.
“It is a great initiative to allow a dozen of our students to participate in something so important in our community and it builds on our motto of strive to serve andvolunteering in our community,” Simon said.
-Emily Flint
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.
