News

NSW SES volunteers have rescued a pregnant woman on Friday afternoon. Shortly before 5pm NSW SES were called to Jacaranda Street in Forbes, where a woman and her midwife required urgent transportation.

Rescuer Ryan Jones, of the Forbes SES unit, said the patient’s water had broken and her midwife assessed she needed admitting to hospital.

“She was isolated by floodwater in North Forbes, we had to transport her across the flooded river and waterways to the hospital,” he said.

“The water was too deep and dangerous for private vehicles so the only way for us to access this patient was via use of our high clearance vehicles.”

Jones said it was the second time in his 17 years volunteering with the SES he had rescued a pregnant patient.

“It was a really nice and rewarding job to be involved in, to be able to put her mind at ease and make a tangible difference was very special.”

The deluge was around 400mm deep, with flowing water and suspected sewerage and other contaminants in the water.

Ryan said it was just of many jobs for his unit on Friday.

“We’ve had a couple of flood rescues… right now I am at a property east of Forbes helping move some horses. We’ve been sandbagging, resupplying essential supplies, evacuations and flood rescues. It has been non-stop all day.”

In an interesting twist of fate, Jones’ emulated the efforts of his father Kevin Jones, Unit Commander of the Hawkesbury SES Unit, who rescued a pregnant woman in the 1978 floods.

“They actually named the baby after the two SES members who helped,” he said.
 
The Lachlan River at Forbes is expected to peak at 10.8 metres later today.

Meanwhile, the NSW SES is reminding residents to avoid flood waters. In Tumut SES volunteers were called after six children were playing in flood water on Friday. In Walli Village, Collenarbri, a number of residents will be required to evacuate via boat on Saturday due to isolation and imminent failure of the sewerage system.

State Emergency Service Assistant Commissioner Nicole Hogan cautioned flood waters are very unsafe.

“It might be tempting to enter flooded water, but it can often be quite polluted,” she said.

“It can contain all sorts of contaminants such as fecal matter, deceased animals, hazardous chemicals which can pose all sorts of risks to your health.”

NSW SES Operational Update

In the last 24 hours

Requests for Assistance: 237
Flood Rescues: 10