Mock rescue operation this weekend

RESIDENTS might notice sirens, flashing lights and the Southcare Rescue Helicopter hovering over Yass (weather permitting) near Riverbank Park this Saturday as emergency services conduct a field exercise including simulated vertical rescue, swift water and land search rescues.

They will be operating on the Hume Bridge on Yass Valley Way/Laidlaw Street and in the surrounding areas at approximately 11am for around one and half hours.

Before and during the exercise, traffic on the bridge will be restricted to one lane with Yass Valley Council and Police Highway Patrol traffic control points in place. Residents may also use the low level crossing as this will not be used or restricted during the exercise.

All local emergency response agencies including NSW Police Force, Fire and Rescue NSW, NSW Volunteer Rescue Association, the NSW State Emergency Service, NSW Rural Fire Service, NSW Ambulance, Snowy Hydro SouthCare aero-medical Rescue Helicopter and Yass Valley Council, will take part in the field exercise.

“Yass Valley Council, through the Yass Valley Local Emergency Management Committee and Local Rescue Committee, holds community safety as its highest priority and this exercise will focus on testing the specialist rescue arrangements that are provided under the NSW State Rescue Policy and State Rescue Board Directives,” Council’s General Manager David Rowe said.

Yass Police Sergeant and Deputy Chair of the Yass Valley Local Rescue Committee Tom Lawless said this exercise was another example of how the various emergency response agencies should and do work together to ensure incidents are managed effectively and to the highest standards.

“The Yass Valley Local Rescue Committee has decided to test responses to a rescue incident, considered to be a specialist rescue, which requires a high degree of training, response and support; such as vertical rescue and flood rescue activation.

“The Local Rescue Committee believe it is necessary to test areas of rescue that we do not routinely respond to and which have a specific set of arrangements that need to be tested to ensure familiarity,” he said.

Regional Emergency Management Officer Paul Lloyd has asked for the local community’s understanding and patience during the running of this exercise.

It has a number of complex components and there will be a number of exclusion zones to ensure the safety of staff, emergency services and the community as a whole.

However the community is invited down to Riverbank Park to observe the exercise and to get a better understanding of how our emergency services work together during rescue operations.

The Rotary Club of Yass will provide light catering.