Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) is a volunteer-based organisation responding to natural disasters and working to ensure the safety of communities around

Victoria, Australia Victoria is a state in southeastern Australia. It is the second-smallest state with a land area of , the second most populated state (after New South Wales) with a population of over 6.5 million, and the most densely populated state in Au ...

. Each State and territory of Australia has its own independent

State Emergency Service The State Emergency Service (SES) is the name used by a number of organisations in Australia that provide assistance during and after major incidents. Specifically, the service deals with floods, storms and tsunamis, but can also assist in oth ...

(SES), and VICSES is only one of these services spread across Australia. At times of great need or catastrophic disaster, it is common that assistance be sought from other states. VICSES is the lead agency when responding to floods, storms, landslides; tsunami and earthquakes as well as operating the largest network of road rescue units in Australia and one of the largest in the world. VICSES also provides assistance to other emergency services such as

Victoria Police Victoria Police is the primary law enforcement agency of the Australian States and territories of Australia, state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. It was formed in 1853 and currently operates under the ''Victoria Police Act 2013''. , Victo ...

Ambulance Victoria Ambulance Victoria (AV), a Victorian agency of the Department of Health and Human Services, is the statutory provider of pre-hospital emergency care and ambulance services in Victoria. Ambulance Victoria was formed on 1 July 2008 with the merger ...

, The

Country Fire Authority The Country Fire Authority (CFA) is a volunteer fire service responsible for fire suppression, rescues, and response to other accidents and hazards across most of the state Victoria, Australia. CFA comprises over 1,200 brigades organised in 21 ...

(CFA) and to municipal councils in support of their emergency management plans. There are more than 5,000 volunteers and 200 employees spread across 150 units that are committed and dedicated volunteers around the state who provide these services 24 hours a day, seven days a week and every day of the year in Victoria.

Responsibilities

Control Agency

Storm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere An atmosphere () is a layer of gas or layers of gases that envelop a planet, and is held in place by the gravity of the planetary body. A planet retains an atmos ...

Flood A flood is an overflow of water ( or rarely other fluids) that submerges land that is usually dry. In the sense of "flowing water", the word may also be applied to the inflow of the tide. Floods are an area of study of the discipline hydrol ...

Tsunami A tsunami ( ; from ja, 津波, lit=harbour wave, ) is a series of waves in a water body caused by the displacement of a large volume of water, generally in an ocean or a large lake. Earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and other underwater explo ...

Earthquake An earthquake (also known as a quake, tremor or temblor) is the shaking of the surface of the Earth resulting from a sudden release of energy in the Earth's lithosphere that creates seismic waves. Earthquakes can range in intensity, from ...

Landslide Landslides, also known as landslips, are several forms of mass wasting that may include a wide range of ground movements, such as rockfalls, deep-seated grade (slope), slope failures, mudflows, and debris flows. Landslides occur in a variety of ...

Support agency

* Country Fire Authority (CFA) * Victoria Police ( VICPOL) * Fire Rescue Victoria ( FRV) (MFB).html" ;"title="Metropolitan Fire Brigade (Melbourne)">(MFB)">Metropolitan Fire Brigade (Melbourne)">(MFB)* Ambulance Victoria (AV) * Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (

DELWP The Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) was a government department in Victoria, Australia. Commencing operation in January 2015, the DELWP was created in the aftermath of the 2014 state election, with Premier Daniel And ...

)

Activities

In addition to its control agency functions, VICSES has a shared responsibility for rescues with the CFA and MFB. VICSES along with other emergency services in Victoria, provide specialist response functions including: * Road Rescue * High Angle Rescue * Industrial Rescue * Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) * Search and Rescue (SAR) * Alpine Search and Rescue (ASAR) * Land Based Swift Water Rescue (LBSWR) * Marine Search and Rescue (MSAR) * General Land Rescue VICSES is also called upon to assist other agencies with unique tasks, some include: * Victoria Police ** Crime scene preservation ** Evidence search ** General assistance (lighting, temporary power, ladders, etc.). * Ambulance Victoria ** Assist with patient carryouts ** Assist paramedics in difficult terrain (4WD/ATV/BOAT) * Country Fire Authority ** Staging area management ** Incident Management * Environmental Protection Authority ** Deployment of air quality monitoring equipment

Regions

VICSES is broken into 6 regions that cover the state of Victoria * Central Region (Melbourne Metropolitan) * East Region (Gippsland) * Mid West Region (Grampians) * North East Region (Hume) * North West Region (Loddon Malle) * South West Region (Barwon South West)

Ranks

Volunteer Insignia

Staff Insignia

Vehicles, Trailers & Other Assets

Cars

Passenger Vehicles

Cars include a mixture of Ford, Holden, Subaru and Toyota Mini-Van

Four Wheel Drives

Mixture of Nissan Patrol, Navara, Pathfinder, Ford Rangers, Everest & Toyota Hilux

Light Rescue

Mixture of chassis Ford, Mercedes & Iveco

Medium Rescue

Medium Rescue (2WD)

Equipment Body: * 5 large and 3 smaller lockers, with 3 x shadow boards for the storage of tools, 5 x sliding shelves and, * 4 x slide and tilt shelves (including LED locker lighting). * Light mast (up to 7.5m from ground) with 4 x 100W 24V LED lights (output 10,479 Lm per light). * External work lights at the mid point of the body, controlled by the Hazard SLIC panel. * Martin power supply system capacity of 8 kVA with 8 x 10A GPO’s. * Compressed air system delivering 10 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM) at 116psi. * Bulbar fitted with HID driving lights. * No tow bar fitted. Equipment Capabilities: * Up to 1,000kg of tools and equipment * Multi purpose truck, i.e. capacity for storm and flood or RCR equipment. Licence Requirements: * Light Rigid Licence SES medium Rescue 4WD Truck

Medium Rescue (4WD)

Equipment Body: * 5 large and 3 smaller lockers, with 3 x shadow boards for the storage of tools, 5 x sliding shelves and, * 4 x slide and tilt shelves (including LED locker lighting). * Light mast (up to 7.5m from ground) with 4 x 24V LED lights. * External work lights at the mid point of the body, controlled by the Hazard SLIC panel. * Martin power supply system - capacity of 8 kVA with 8 x 10A GPO’s. * Compressed air system delivering 10 Cubic Feet per Minute (CFM) at 116psi. * Bulbar fitted with 15,000lb, 24v winch & HID driving lights * No tow bar fitted. Equipment Capabilities: * Up to 1,000kg of tools and equipment * Multi purpose truck, i.e. capacity for RAIR, Storm and Flood equipment. Licence Requirements: * Light Rigid Licence

Heavy Rescue

Heavy Rescue Truck (2WD)

Equipment Body: * 7 large and 1 smaller lockers, with 3 x shadow boards for the storage of tools, 5 x sliding shelves and * 8 x fixed shelving, 4 x slide and tilt shelves (including locker lighting). * Light mast (up to 7.5m from ground) with 4 x 24v LED lights. * External work lights at the mid point of the body, controlled by the Hazard SLIC panel. * Martin power supply of 8kVA with 8 x 10A GPO. * Compressed air system delivering 15 cubic feet per minute (CFM) at 130psi. * Bull bar fitted with HID driving lights * No tow bar fitted Equipment Capabilities: * Up to 2,000kg of tools and equipment * RAIR purpose truck, i.e. capacity RAIR and storm or flood equipment. Licence Requirements: * Medium Rigid Licence

Boats

IRB's

Trailers

Lighting Towers

Genie AL6-6000 * 8.40 m extended mast height * 2.45 m long (drawbar retracted) * Kubota D1403 diesel10.7 kW @1500rpm AllightSykes URBAN MLLED200K-9AC-K * 9-meter mast design * LED's 4 x 500 watt * 200,000 lumens * Kubota D905 Diesel Engine * 100km/h Wind Speed Rated

Sand Bag Trainer

Storm Trailer

Pump Trailer

Units

Central Region ( Including North West Metro and South)

East Region

Mid West Region

North East Region

North West Region

South West Region

Volunteers Association

Volunteers and Units are represented by the Victoria State Emergency Service Volunteers Association (VICSESVA) which was formed in 1983. The Association's role is to advocate for VICSES volunteers by raising issues that impact on skills, training, funding, equipment, ethics & safety. VICSESVA is a non-profit association run and managed by VICSES Volunteers.

References

External links

Victoria SES Facebook page

Australian Council of State Emergency Services

Victoria State Emergency ServiceVictoria State Emergency Service Volunteers Association
{{Authority control Non-profit organisations based in Victoria (Australia) Emergency services in Victoria (Australia) Emergency management in Australia