Volunteers from both the Footscray and Hobsons Bay SES units came together for a joint missing persons training session.
Held along the Maribyrnong River in Footscray, the three-hour training session involved 45 volunteers working to locate and extract three casualty dummies that had been thrown into the water.
Boating crews on the river supported the search with waterway coverage, while radio communications, casualty handling and incident management were also practised.
SES Footscray team leader Audrey Tan said the joint training session provided valuable experience for volunteers.
“It was as close to a life like scenario as we can get,” Ms Tan said.
“It’s not something we do every week but it’s good to do to learn how other units work. When we come together all our skills are quite similar so we work as one.”
The joint training session came just two months after the real-life recovery of two bodies from the same stretch of the Maribyrnong River.
On the morning of Sunday, July 16, the bodies of 20-year-old Colombian national Diego Alejandro Barón, 20 and 85-year-old Footscray local Loelen Whitehand, were found within an hour of each other.
Ms Tan said the missing persons training session wasn’t a response to those two recoveries.
“It’s just normal training that we do. We normally train every single Monday at the same time.”
Those interested in joining the Footscray or Hobsons Bay SES units should visit: www.ses.vic.gov.au/join-us
