Guest Speaker Report
Wednesday 20 October2010
by Rotarian Ian Johnson (reporter)
Our guest speaker was Peter Wilson who spoke to us about “Rotary Emergency Service Recognition Awards”. Peter is the Vocational Service Director at the Holroyd Club and was the Vocational Service Chairman in Harley’s year as District Governor. Peter was introduced by PP Raymond McCluskie.
Peter noted that the Rotary Police Awards started about 25 years ago in a Darwin club and then extended to other clubs throughout Australia. The purpose of Peter’s talk was to convince us that such recognition should extend to other emergency services such as the Ambulance service, the Fire Brigade and the SES. Peter then went on to detail the type of work done by each of these services.
The Fire Brigade apart from fighting fires and minimising their impact also assist in rescues, deal with hazardous materials and run prevention programs. Peter advised us that the NSW Rural Fire Service was the world’s largest with 70,000 volunteer members and that they provide emergency services to 95% of NSW. Apart from dealing with emergencies they are also involved with hazard reduction.
The Ambulance service was set up in 1895. At first manually operated stretchers and carts were used. The first horse drawn ambulance came into operation in 1899. This was followed by the car in 1912 and the air ambulance in 1967. There are currently over 800 ambulances in NSW. The ambulance service is dedicated to bringing high quality clinical treatment to sick and injured people in the community. This often involves officers being placed at risk such as when attending motor vehicle accidents or treating drug addicts.
The SES was set up in 1855 in response to devastating floods which occurred in NSW at that time. There are now 226 units across NSW. They provide speedy assistance to people affected by floods and storms. They also perform most of the rescues carried out in country areas of the state.
In conclusion Peter stated that emergency service workers should be included in award presentations as the qualities we look for in police nominations are also present in emergency service workers. Peter was thanked by Anuradha Kamkolkar.