Teamwork, talent, and dedication were just some of the admirable traits on display at a Multi-agency Rescue Exercise Day hosted by the Burren Junction Volunteer Rescue Association and community on October 12.
Burren VRA captain Stephen Gardiner thanked Powell Farms and the Holcombe family for providing the venue and grain machinery, with the impressive set-up and on-farm location enhancing the training and simulations “to keep this exercise real”.
“The day featured a wide range of training scenarios, including motor vehicle accidents, impalement scenarios, silo incidents, and farm-related incidents, such as a farmer trapped under a tractor attachment,” explained captain Gardiner.
“We tackled a grain entrapment scenario—a critical reminder of the dangers as we head into the busy harvest season.”
The Burren VRA received high praise for putting on such an exceptional event.
“It’s a superb day,” said commissioner Brenton Charlton, VRA Rescue NSW.
“Burren is awesome, and it’s an awesome set-up. It’s a day where the agencies come together, coordinated by the VRA, and it’s a rescue day but with a focus on agricultural rescue.
“We have to really thank Powell Farms and the Burren community for helping us put this on.
“They’ve given us the land, they’ve given us the machinery, they’ve given us vehicles to cut up (for training scenarios).
“I also really want to thank all the agencies that have attended, and they’ve come with positive attitudes.”
The multi-agency Rescue Exercise Day was attended by crews from across the state, with commissioner Charlton emphasising how “absolutely essential” it is for agencies to work as a team.
“We’ve got to be able to train together, work together, and if we know each other, things are a lot easier,” he said.
“We’ve got the VRA here, RFS, SES, Ambulance, Police were here for the majority of the morning.
“Some from this region, so Burren, Narrabri, Rowena, Collarenebri, some are from Taree, others are from Dubbo.”
“A huge thank you to all the teams that participated,” added Burren VRA captain Stephen Gardiner who also acknowledged the locals who kindly volunteered to act as patients, victims and people who needed rescuing.
Weeks of planning and preparation ensured the simulations reflected real-life scenarios, from motor vehicle to farming accidents, and proved to be a powerful and engaging education technique.
“It was inspiring to see how each agency collaborated seamlessly to ensure safe and effective rescues on the day,” said captain Gardiner.
“Dedication and professionalism were evident in every scenario.
“Thank you to everyone who contributed to the success of this event.
“Together, we are strengthening our community and ensuring readiness for any situation.
“This exercise was a great opportunity for our crews to sharpen their skills and prepare for the types of incidents we may face during this time of year.”
Commissioner Charlton said one of the benefits of a multi-agency event was witnessing how “everyone brings something to the table”.
“A new way to extract someone, a new way to lift something, a new way to save someone’s life essentially,” he explained.
“It’s about teamwork, collaboration, working together and the sharing of skills and learning new skills because we’ve got some senior instructors here from the Australasian Rescue Organisation as well.
“It’s not about testing people, this is a learning environment.”
Captain Gardiner said one of the aims of the exercise day was to engage volunteers and get them thinking about the rescue missions they may face in rural and remote locations.
“We built the scenarios around scenarios that have actually occurred and can occur,” he said.
“But we wanted to have a level of complexity that met a training need, so it required the use of every piece of equipment that was on a rescue truck.
“It was about testing our equipment and resources to make sure that they were fit for purpose.
“The other key thing was to bring agencies together.
“I think we achieved that…and it was a volunteer-led event.”
It’s no secret volunteers are the backbone of country towns and the extraordinary work of groups, such as the Burren VRA, is highly valued.
Especially in a small rural community where squads often know the people they are being called out to help or rescue, and the VRA are often the first responders to arrive at the scene.
“It’s a massive ask, and it’s extremely important,” said commissioner Charlton.
“They give up their time, every day of the week, to go and train, they miss sporting events when they’re on callouts and things like that.
“They are just dead-set, salt of the earth – they’re just impeccable people.
“And the knowledge and skills they bring from a diverse workforce is even better, they each bring a different perspective.”
Recognising VRA members are not just rescuers and responders: they are the neighbours, friends, or family members who generously step up in times of need, abandoning their daily tasks or jobs when they get the call to attend accidents, emergency incidents or rescues.
Captain Gardiner agreed there are challenges when it comes to volunteering in a rural community but said there were plenty of positives too.
“We have the local knowledge, we have networks to call and local input when we are responding,” he said.
“We’re a little rescue squad sitting in Burren Junction that covers an area larger than Greater Sydney.
“But there are positive experiences that you can take away and you can stand tall and hold your head high and say, ‘Well, you know, we made a difference to that person’s life’.
Both commissioner Charlton and captain Gardiner highlighted how fulfilling the role of a VRA member can be and strongly encouraged locals to consider joining, whether it’s to learn a new skill, for the camaraderie or to contribute to the local area.
“It’s the learning, travel, meeting new people and the new skillset,” said commissioner Charlton.
“You do have fun when you can learn new things, it’s not just road crashes – there’s search and rescue or vertical rescue or cave rescues, industrial – there are a whole lot of things you can learn.”
“It is extremely rewarding,” added captain Gardiner.
“And the support that we get from the local community – the fishing club, the campdraft, the school is huge.
“Burren Junction had no rescue squad for a period of five years, and we reopened it in 2019 and it’s been a huge rebuild to get the squad back to where we are.
“We’ve come in with renewed energy and it’s about driving it forward.
“We have a relatively young energetic and fit team, and we are building.
“We, as volunteers, give lots of time to training or jump off the tractor or spray rig to run out to an emergency call but it’s about building facilities and getting equipment that is fit for purpose and encouraging our volunteers to continue to give; that’s the secret.
“We can go from strength to strength and continue to march on and build to become bigger and better.
“Hopefully, we’ve got a new truck getting built and lots of exciting things happening.
“If people want to join the rescue squad between Burren Junction and Narrabri, certainly reach out.
“We offer nationally accredited training. Every major incident we have peer support teams.
“It is very rewarding.”
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