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Drones, boats and more than 800 emergency service personnel have taken part in a mass flood rescue exercise on most major river systems across the state, led by the NSW State Emergency Service (SES) over the weekend.
Who Let The Boats Out saw nine emergency services unite to share expertise and capabilities and further enhance flood rescue response in communities across NSW.
Covering more than 80 waterways throughout the state, the event is designed to strengthen core skills for on-water flood rescue and flood support operations.
As the lead agency for flood rescue, the NSW SES coordinated the largest simultaneous boating exercise in Australia, which put through crews their paces on Saturday, 8 February.
This year, the SES is trialing drones during the exercise to demonstrate how they can be used to support flood rescues, as well as instantly deliver reconnaissance and rapid damage impact assessments to incident management teams who are often a distance away.
The drones were the eyes in the sky over the exercise in several locations across the state, including in Darling Harbour, Lismore and Broken Hill, live streaming intel and vision back to a centralised mobile incident control centre in Woronora.
Participating organisations included: NSW SES, NSW Police, the RFS, Surf Life Saving NSW, Marine Rescue, the VRA, Maritime, Fire and Rescue NSW and Ambulance NSW.
Quotes attributed to Minister for Emergency Services, Jihad Dib:
“This is a great opportunity for all agencies to practice working together and exchange on-water expertise, so when there is an emergency, we can respond side by side with an improved understanding of each other's capabilities.
“This exercise also gives participants an opportunity to familiarise themselves with their local waterways to improve their response to flood rescues.
“Training means we’re better prepared, and this benefits both emergency response personnel and the communities they are helping keep safe.”
Quotes attributed to NSW SES Deputy Commissioner, Daniel Austin:
“Who Let The Boats Out helps to equip volunteers and other emergency services personnel with the skills and knowledge to respond seamlessly and efficiently to real-life emergencies.
“Crews were tested with essential flood boat rescue skills including maneuvering, launching and docking vessels, search and rescue, recovering persons overboard, radio communications, troubleshooting boats, fire drills and navigation.
“This year we’re also excited to be trialing our new drone capability as part of this large training exercise, to really test the equipment and our operators in a simulated operational environment.
“Drones could significantly enhance flood rescue operations in the future and could prevent the need for a volunteer to enter a hazardous situation.”
Media enquiries: NSW SES Media on 1800 067 234