4/12/2012 – Flood Rescue Course

Recently Metro SES ran a Flood Boat rescue Course out of our new unit. This course can be quite competitive as there is a minimum of 3 courses that must be completed prior to completing this course. This year we had, 2 x Mandurah SES, 2 x Canning/South Perth SES, 1 x Armadale SES, and 4 x Belmont SES. We also had a new Instructor from Belmont under assessment.

This course is not easy with the first 2 full days being theory based. Although sometimes mind-numbing, it is a necessary part all students must learn before being allowed to drive vessels and conduct rescues. However you will see from the photos below that the instructors try their best to make the lessons more hands on and fun.

The next 2 days are spent on the water. First day upstream Guildford where students practice their slow speed, small area negotiating. They also conduct basic search and rescue operations. The last day is out on Melville Waters, where they undertake a series of obstacle courses and slalom courses to test their high speed manoeuvrability. This tests the limits of the students, but is also an important stage in identifying the limitations of each vessel. They also conduct towing, technical manoeuvres and rescues.

After 4 intense day, 7 students were found successful, with the further two requiring a little more practice in some areas to complete the course. Congrats to all the students. Additionally congrats to John Saffrey for doing an excellent job as an instructor and passing his own assessment.