SES senior field member Reginald Marshall and QPS Duty District Officer Senior Sergeant Peter Materne.
By Jamie Furness
The South Western SES Group held an open day at their Orchard Street depot in Richlands on Saturday November 26 to educate and empower the local community about what emergency services can do for them
Each Queensland emergency department had a display at the event, and people were able to have a chat with them and get information.
Children were also invited to take a look at the firetrucks, the fire brigade gave important information about smoke alarms.
The event was attended by several local representatives, including Forest Lake ward councillor Charles Strunk, Oxley MP Milton Dick, Mount Ommaney MP Jess Pugh, and Jamboree ward councillor Sarah Hutton.
SES senior field member and life member Reginald Marshall, who organised and managed the event, said the event would help empower the community to help themselves and help each other after a storm or during an emergency situation.
“The people who came learned a lot, including how to look after each other,” he said.
“If your neighbour’s got problems, go over and help them. If you’ve got a neighbour who’s an older person, go over and make sure they’re okay.”
The SES also handed out brochures to advise people about storm season.
“Don’t leave anything loose in your yard – if you’ve got trampolines, tie them down, because the wind can pick up and fly them for miles,” Mr Marshall said.
“Make sure your gutters are clean – 90% of our work is because people don’t clean their gutters, and the water fills up and gets under the tiles and into your ceiling, and then you’ve got all sorts of trouble.
The SES is a volunteer organisation attached to the Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, and is soon to be aligned with Queensland Police.
Their main tasks include helping with storm damage, temporary house repairs, flood evacuation, missing person and forensic searches with the QPS, crowd control at major events, and support for other agencies in times of disaster.
For assistance from the SES, dial 132 500.
For life-threatening emergencies, dial 000.
For fallen power lines, call Energex on 131 462.
