Dr Benjamin Veness with Team of the Year Winners Junee Rescue Squad’s Melissa Murdoch and Julie Hedlund.
Junee Rescue Squad are calling for passionate members of the community who care about giving back to the community to join the Junee Rescue Squad. They are offering to provide training for the job and are offering flexibility for those who’d like to come on board. Please note to be an active member of the Squad you must be 18 years and over.
President Melissa Murdoch wants to encourage people to join the squad especially the younger generation so there is a future for the squad and maintain this vital service to the community. “Primarily the Junee Volunteer Rescue Association (VRA) is a primary response to motor vehicle accidents, we also assist police and ambulance other emergency services, animal rescue whilst providing assistance to other community groups. “If we are needed to cook a BBQ, help assist with parking at events, anything we can do to assist our community but primarily we are general land rescue operators and Motor Vehicle Rescue. “You learn invaluable skills. There are two options, you don’t have to be an active accident/incident rescue operator, it’s not for everyone. You are, however, learning how to save a life.
Not to put it in gory terms but you can learn how to access an accident/incident scene and ensure that all safety measures are put into place and achieve the best outcome possible.” “Most of our team, like any voluntary organisation, the majority of our team members have been doing it for years. Some of our members are life members. Some of them have been there 20 plus years with skills they’re looking to pass on. “If we don’t have a younger generation come through, we will face the reality that the community may lose them.” “It’s saving lives. Because we’re regional, we don’t have the luxury of having another unit be here in ten minutes. If you don’t have us in the community, who is going to be there to help out.
We need to sustain our emergency services.” While almost five million volunteers in NSW contribute around 1.5 billion hours each year, many regional volunteer groups like the Fire and Rescue squads and Can Assist still struggle with numbers. You may not think yourself what you can offer to these groups, but you would be surprised at the difference a single person can make. “If anyone’s interested, send us a message. Most people know who’s in the squad if they want to contact one of them personally, but if they want to, come down and have a look at the equipment we have and come down to see the training they do to see if it’s something you’re interested in. You don’t have to be an active member or on call, there are auxiliary positions and committee positions.
“You can support the members or do the other stuff. They might want to do animal rescue or cook that BBQ or help with parking at shows and events. There is a myriad of things you can do, it’s not just gory stuff.”
You can contact the Junee VRA through their Facebook page, dropping in or emailing at juneevra@outlook.com and become a literal life saver.
Jack Murray
