Smiles All Round at Inaugural Inverell Training Weekend

Jock Campbell

It's important for all expertise to be celebrated at the end of a training exercise, whether it's thinking outside the box or being the class clown.

These were just a few of the awards presented to Exercise Lusus participants after a fun-filled training weekend at the Inverell Emergency Services Facility (Inverell Headquarters) and Lake Inverell, on 1-2 October.

With its name inspired by the Latin term for "games", the inaugural event was a great opportunity for members to practise skills and have fun, along with building new friendships with members from other units.

Many of the 60 Northern and Western Zones participants, who came from as far as the Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast, Central Coast, Tamworth and Armidale, were relatively new to SES so it was the perfect opportunity to meet others.

Teams were mixed with members from different units working together for the first time. They competed across seven skills stands, including flood rescue, first aid, incident management, map-reading, navigation, urban search and rescue and communications.

AWARD WINNERS:

» Safety award - Willem Nillesen (Armidale Unit)

» Thinking outside the box - Nick Cawley (Armidale Unit)

» Teaching a stand manager something new – Brenton Fowler (Tweed Heads Unit)

» Team player - Ashley Slapp (Woodburn Unit)

» Clown of the exercise– Dean Girdler (Coutts Crossing/ Coffs Harbour)

After the COVID-19 pandemic and flood operations unfortunately caused delays in getting the exercise of its feet, it was great to finally kick it off.

Thanks and credit must go to the planning team comprising of the exercise directors, Tamworth members Victoria Walton and Ann Bartimote, along with support from Michael Davidson and the Exercise Capability team, and Jock Campbell from Armidale Unit for Media and Communications support.

We hope to continue running the exercise every second year and will be in touch prior to the next one.