STATE EMERGENCY SERVICE

A 'State Emergency Service' is an Australian volunteer organisation that provides emergency help during and after declared (natural or otherwise) disasters.
SES began in Australia in 1955, and was originally known as the Civil Defence Service. It was formed as a precaution to any potential attacks on Australian soil. The name was changed to SES during the 1970s, to reflect a change of emphasis into providing emergency help related to floods, storms and other natural emergencies. Every state and territory in Australia has its own State (or Territory) Emergency Service, and there are 43,000 volunteers spread across the country. Each state or territory is broken into regions, then units, and finally groups.
In South Australia, calls and dispatch are managed by the Metropolitan Fire Service, having previously being managed by the CFS. This is in preparation for full deployment of the South Australian Computer Aided Dispatch (SACAD) system. Management of this implementation is by Justice Business Services, a section of the Attorney-General's Department of South Australia.

Contents

Functions of the SES

Funding

Contacting the SES

See Also

External links

Functions of the SES

The SES provides assistance to local communities in times of need.
Because every community is different, every SES Unit has a slightly different set of roles and activities. Depending on the needs of the local community, a Unit may perform some or all of these roles:

'Function'	'Description'
Agency Support	Supporting the Police and other Emergency Services during incidents with lighting, marine transport, and other services.
Air Observation	Assisting in searches over land and sea from both helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft.
Crowd and/or Traffic Control	Assisting police and ambulance at public events like ANZAC Day in this capacity.
Emergency services liaison	Working with representatives of other emergency services during emergencies.
Evacuation Centre Management	Establishing and running temporary evacuation centres.
Fire Support & Training	Assisting the police and the rural and metropolitan fire services with road closures, evacuations, delivery of welfare during major fires, and some training like First Aid and Chainsaw Operations.
First Aid	Aiding members of the public requiring basic medical aid and assisting ambulance officers and members of St. John Ambulance of Australia with triage and mass casualty situations.
Flood and storm preparation and response	Making structures safe and protecting property after floods and storms, helping people prepare for floods and storms and using specialised equipment like flood boats and chainsaws.
General rescue procedures and skills	Working safely to remove people from dangerous situations.
Land Search	Searching for missing persons usually in rural areas but also in suburban areas.
Management	Helping the Unit to run smoothly.
Marine Rescue	Working with the Coast Guard and other marine organizations in assisting boats in distress.
Media, public relations and community education	Working with the media and the public to communicate safety messages and warnings and to promote the SES to the community.
Mines Rescue	Some SES units have specific training to allow them to rescue trapped persons from inside collapsed mines.
Road-crash rescue	Rescuing people from crashed vehicles.
Training coordination	Helping to plan and carry out the training in a Unit.
Urban Search and Rescue	(USAR) extending basic rescue techniques to situations such as collapsed or unstable structures, using specialised equipment such as after bombs or explosions.
Vertical rescue	Rescuing people from heights and depths such as cliffs or ravines
Welfare	Providing and administrating temporary field bases for activations, including meals, peer support, teas & coffees etc.

Funding

In addition to what funds are provided by legislation to the SES by state and local governments, SES groups also supplement their financial resources with donations made by individuals and businesses. These donations typically contribute to a group's equipment such as vehicles and other equipment, or to improvements of the SES group's facilities such as buildings or other property improvements.
The SES raises most of its donations from individuals via stalls set up at local events (eg. school fetes or other community-based events).

Contacting the SES

In Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales, South Australia and the ACT, the telephone number for all SES units is 132 500. In Western Australia, the number is 1300 130 039.
In Tasmania and Northern Territory, there is no state-wide telephone number.
Dial Triple-zero (000) if it is a life threatening emergency.

See Also

★ New South Wales State Emergency Service

★ Community Emergency Response Team

External links

★ Australian Council of State Emergency Services

★ Australian Capital Territory State Emergency Service

★ New South Wales State Emergency Service

★ Emergency NSW

★ Northern Territory Emergency Service

★ Queensland State Emergency Service

★ Emergency Management Queensland(No affilliation with Emergency Management Australia)

★ Queensland Disaster Management Act 2003

★ Brisbane Unit State Emergency Service News

★ South Australia State Emergency Service

★ Tasmania State Emergency Service

★ Victoria State Emergency Service

★ Victoria Department of Justice (Emergency Services)

★ VICSES Units Online

★ Western Australia State Emergency Service

★ SACAD Project

★ Emergency Management Australia