David MacLean, A/District Officer, Training Development Support & Compliance for SES and Marine Rescue, has submitted an update for SES volunteers:
Height Safety
We have begun “Upskilling” the current Roof Safety System Builder Trainer/Assessors. In the four weeks from late October, almost 60 trainer/assessors have attended the workshops and received the new Ladder Safety System and Roof Safety System kits for their units.
The workshops will continue for the next month, giving trainers time to properly familiarise themselves with the equipment before the new training products are released early next year.
Basic General Rescue
Updates to Basic General Rescue were being published in the last week of November, with improvements to NUCOMs, closer ties to USAR Cat-1 and a more refined assessment process.
Land Search
Changes to Land Search Team Leader are due very soon, with an on-line theory element, tidying up of the information and more relevant assessment criteria.
Chainsaw
We are trying again on the chainsaw currency knowledge assessment. It has been a bit of a challenge to keep the question bank that people seem to like, but not have to redo the whole assessment when we make one mistake. That is being refined now and should be resolved by the time Academy staff come back from the Christmas break.
Bushfire Support
SES volunteers supporting bushfires are now being asked to complete an online Bushfire Fundamentals course, rather than that face-to-face Bushfire Safety Awareness. A Burnover blanket training session will be introduced soon, covering a bit of theory on bushfire incident control, as well as the blanket drill.