Students from Camden Haven High School and Taree High are studying Ventures and Enterprise. Part of the course is training with various emergency services in their community.

At Bruce Porter Reserve and in the Camden Haven River several scenarios were set up. Patients needed to be rescued from the river using the SES Flood Boats; one patient was trapped inside a collapsed building; land searches were conducted; and students learned to carefully jack up a vehicle which may have a trapped patient.

The “patients” were weighted, body-shaped bags which provide trainees with the real challenge of handling an unresponsive person needing assistance.

Here is what Joseph Hord from Camden Haven High had to say about the course:

Garry Fajks, region cadet co-ordinator for the SES, said the program had broad scope for students and their communities.

“It’s about teaching the youth of today about volunteering, team work and community resilience,” Garry said.

“The more people we can educate, the greater the resilience we build in the community.”

While the SES are the go-to crew in times of natural disaster, educating the community to be more self-sufficient and prepared means our valued volunteers in orange can use their resources where the need is greatest.

Through the program students will train with other services, including Marine Rescue, Volunteer Rescue Association and Rural Fire Service.

The cadet program is supported by Origin Energy. The team from Bunnings Warehouse donated and cooked food to feed the SES volunteers and hungry cadets at each and every field exercise.