Q- Why did you join the SES? Looking for a challenge and to be able to give a service to the community. Q- Why do you like being an SES member? I enjoy interacting with people who are service-orientated and who are focused on assisting others. The SES provides an opportunity to think and act laterally, because every job attended is different and requires different methods of dealing with the problem. I still get a "buzz" out of attending storm-damaged buildings, car 'versus' house events and searches like the recent Mundaring bush search.
Q- What makes you come along to training week after week? I enjoy the rapport which has been built up over many years, and believe that training is very important to SES' ability to function effetively. Without the regular contact with the other members, co-operative working teams and team leadership is difficult to maintain.
Q- Give an example of your best memory/experience with the SES. May storms of 1994 where the unit operated for 4 continuous days. Most members slept on the floor in the recreation room for about 6 hours and were then back into operation. The unit completed in excess of 260 jobs throughout the area from Mosman Park up to the City of Perth. With almost no exception, the members of the unit worked as a well oiled machine, and there were very few injuries to show for such a major operation, and these were restricted to minor cuts and abrasions. However, there have been many expereinces since that time that have been similarly exciting and challenging.
Q- If you have had an embarrassing moment, share the experience. I recall being called to a "Tree on Roof" in Wembley one afternoon and, after I relaised that it was a bloody big gum tree, I called out a team of 6. The tree had a boll-diameter of about 30 inches and it was sitting diagonally accross the roof, partly suspended on the ridge, partly on the guttering and partly on the chimmney. The root system had been eaten out by white ants so it was fairly unstable. Anyway, the team cut away all of the 'sail' branches, and we had it pruned back to the trunk but it was still lying on the roof. I decided that, if I hitched the tree to the back of the 4-wheel drive and took off very sharply, the tree, which seemed to be only resting on the very edge of the chimney, would be propelled away from the house and would fall safely in the garden. As you would appreciate, the tree did just what we wanted and landed in the garden, However, so did the chimney, half of the support wall and the outer section of the porch. They had of course all been damaged when the tree originally fell and would have collapsed anyway!!! Q- Goals for yourself, and /or the Unit. For myself, I would like to obtain the First Clasp to my National Medal (25 years service) and, for the unit, I would like to see a regularly attending membership of 25 - 30 people - set into 3 teams which can be used on a rotating 'duty-team' basis.
Q- Write a paragraph about yourself. After almost 25 years in the Northshore unit, one would think that I have been involved with almost every conceivable problem. However, as soon as that thought is manifest, up crops a new one, which requires a 'twisted brain' to sort it out. I continue to enjoy my work at the SES, although I have moved more towards training new members than call-outs. When I joined the SES, I was a Parking Inspector and soon thereafter I became a Parks Ranger , so I was available for call-outs at almost any time of the day or night. My current position makes it a bit more difficult to make myself available during the day, but I endeavour to do so whenever possible.
