FEMALE Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) volunteers from the Hume region came together on Saturday 16 March in Cobram, as part of the organisations’ ever-growing VICSES Women in Rescue (WIR) event, established for female volunteers, by female volunteers.
Founded in 2018, this year was the largest WIR event yet, with six locations across Victoria hosting the event simultaneously amidst the largest increase in uptake recorded in a year - double the number of participants to last year’s event (2023).
The event in Cobram played host to almost 40 female VICSES volunteers, with approx. 250 state-wide.
WIR is a targeted training event designed to celebrate women in emergency operations, to get hands on with the tools and equipment, share rescue skills and have fun in a safe and supportive environment.
The day focused on the hands-on, practical components of rescue operations, with a variety of specialised training and exercises covering the diverse capabilities that VICSES volunteers require during a range of different emergencies.
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“When we have our orange on, we all take on a wide variety of roles, including flood response, road crash rescue and searches for missing people," said VICSES Wodonga Unit volunteer, Lisa Wise.
"Women in Rescue has been a great way to consolidate those skills.”
The annual event also aims to promote gender inclusion and diversity within VICSES and encourage recruitment and retention of female VICSES volunteers.
Currently, 1,652 of all 4,869 VICSES’ volunteers are female (almost 34 per cent) and VICSES would love to boost that figure to ensure we reflect the communities we serve.
At the WIR event in Cobram, the volunteers tackled various skills-based demonstrations, including a live Road Crash Rescue simulation as well as hand tools and domestic rescue techniques.
