General Discussion > SASES

SES familiarisation thread

(1/33) > >>

CFS_Firey:
OK, some SES guys and girls on this forum would like the other emergency services to better understand the SES and what they do.
This thread is an opportunity for the SES to talk about what they do, so we can better understand them! (Simple eh?)

So anyone can ask questions, and the SES can answer them... I'll start with a few...



* How much is the SASES different from the SES in the other states, and what resources do they share?
* How big is the SASES (how many volunteers, paid staff, units, appliances etc)
* What courses do the SES run, and offer
* How are SES units responded to incidents (Do they ever respond in private cars?)
* What ranks are there within Units, and how can we tell who is senior? (Different coloured helemts?)
* Do SES Units have specialisations (like the CFS has Rescue, or Hazmat) and how many of these specialised units are there? (eg, SACFS has 34 HAMZAT and 66 RCR brigades, out of 434)
* What is the average number of calls an SES unit gets in a year (Pip has said over 50% of CFS brigades get less than 20 calls)

Please keep this thread as informative as possible with no put downs or anti-SES comments (I'll edit your posts if you're mean!)...
Thanks

Toast:
Are the SES similar to the CFS in terms of a few *very* busy, multi skilled 'units', and a whole heap of other, far less busy, maybe not so skilled ones?

Why do you care about tree jobs so much?

PF_:
IS SES anything like the SAS?

The beards and secrecy surrounding what exaclty they do.  I think Im onto this so called volunteer agency   8-):x (close enough to a cynical narrowed eyes emoticon, it is not mean to be angry)

bittenyakka:
Keep it ontopic

Do any members of the SES find themselvs responding to clean up treas on houses of people who are not responsible enough to keep their houses in proper condition? ie being a free garden clean up service.

squiddy:
Thanks for the thread, CFS_FIREY, I think it will be good to break down some of the barriers between agencies through education  :mrgreen:

How much is the SASES different from the SES in the other states, and what resources do they share?

Each state governs their own SES, and roles vary from state to state. However, the roles can also vary from metro to rural areas, just as in SA. In a lot of states, SES is largely involved with flooding, storm and salvage and searches.

How big is the SASES (how many volunteers, paid staff, units, appliances etc)

According to the SES, there are 1938 volunteers. There are 36 paid staff.
OK... heirarchy as far as paid staff goes is as follws. It is a little confusing, so try to stay with me. There is the Chief Officer, and he has an executive PA and an executive project officer. The EPO has an operational admin officer and a corporate admin officer under them. Under the CO is the Deputy CO. He is responsible for each region. Each region has a Regional Commander, Senior Regional Officer, Training Officer, Business Support Officer and Admin Officer. Under the CO is also the Manager for Assets and Infrastructure, Manager for Training and Development, Business Manager, Manager of Corporate Communications and the Manager for Volunteer Marine Rescue (who is in charge of the VMR squadrons). There is also a State Planning Officer, State Training Officer and an Admin Officer.
Hope you got all that.

There are 68 SES units across SA, and I am unsure of the number of vehicles. Smaller units sometimes have less vehicles, and larger units sometimes have more. Generally everyone gets a rescue truck and at least 1 4WD.

What courses do the SES run, and offer?

First course to do is Basic Rescue. It is pretty much a prerequisite for everything else. From there, SES offers Advanced Rescue 1&2, Advanced Rescue Shoring, Air Observing, GRN & Basic Comms, Chainsaw Operations & Safety, Dropmaster, Leadership, Land Search & Rescue, Mapreading & Navigation, Recconaissance, RCR, Storm Damage Operations, Train Small Groups, USAR Category 1&2, Vertical Rescue (all levels), Workplace Assessment.

How are SES units responded to incidents (Do they ever respond in private cars?)

Some units have a Duty Officer that gets a page and then responds unit members to taskings. Other units all just respond with pagers. We arrive at the LHQ and get in vehicles. Sometimes crew will respond in private vehicles if they are nearby, but not often.

What ranks are there within Units, and how can we tell who is senior? (Different coloured helemts?)

Unit rankings are as follows:
Unit Manager
Deputy Unit Manager
Rescue Officer
Deputy Rescue Officer
Business Manager
Training Officer
Deputy Training Officer
Comms Officer
Equipment Officer
Welfare Officer
Team Leaders
Rescue Crew

Officers wear epaulettes on their shoulders. I don't have the full list of these on me atm, so I will let you know when I get it.

Do SES Units have specialisations (like the CFS has Rescue, or Hazmat) and how many of these specialised units are there? (eg, SACFS has 34 HAMZAT and 66 RCR brigades, out of 434)

Yes. There are specialised USAR, Confined Space, Vertical and RCR units. The 13 metro units do not do RCR. All 55 rural units are RCR. I know that Sturt, TTG and Mt Barker (soon apparently) are all USAR. Noarlunga does Confined Space and there are a few units who do vertical.

What is the average number of calls an SES unit gets in a year (Pip has said over 50% of CFS brigades get less than 20 calls)

While a lot of metro units do loads of storm and flood work, there are a few rural units who are lucky to make 10 calls a year. If you want exact numbers, go check out the SES annual report for last year http://www.ses.sa.gov.au/aboutses/aboutses/pdfs/ANNUAL%20REPORT%20MASTER%202004-05.pdf.

Hope that helps.

Navigation

[0] Message Index

[#] Next page