Williamstown’s Kane Treloar is both a police officer and a volunteer surf lifesaver, but when he received the Emergency Services Medal as part of the Australia Day honours, it wasn’t for the role requiring a gun and badge.
“The highlight for me has been the uplift in the organisation’s (Life Saving Victoria) profile in emergency management,” Mr Treloar said of surf lifesaving which he has been involved with since starting nippers when he was 12.
Now 34 and still a member of the Williamstown Swimming and Surf Life Saving Club, Mr Treloar said Life Saving Victoria had become an important part of the state’s emergency services framework, with its members often found well beyond the beach.
“In 2022 we sent over 50 lifesavers to support efforts in the Victoria floods and that’s something that wouldn’t have even been considered 10 years earlier.”
That change is something Mr Treloar himself has helped bring about by leveraging his experience as a police officer and also as a member of Ambulance Victoria’s Community Advisory Committee.
By enhancing the capability of its rescue helicopter, implementing aerial intelligence and doubling the number of watercraft rescue sites, Mr Treloar has helped Life Saving Victoria double the amount of emergency operations it’s been involved in in the last five years.
“I’ve been really lucky that my professional and volunteer careers have a symbiotic relationship,” Mr Treloar said.
Those who have been rescued as a result will no doubt feel the same way.
