The strong winds and rainfall experienced during the month of August have seen the number of calls for assistance received by the Pakenham SES to remain steady at 45.

Of the calls for assistance:

25 were for Trees on Roads, creating traffic hazards
7 were for Building Damage (leaking roof, tiles missing, etc)
4 calls to Road Accidents (no rescue required)
4 calls to children locked in vehicles
4 calls to General Storm Damage
And 1 call for a Rescue Person (child stuck in a vending machine in Tooradin - cancelled prior to arrival on scene)

Calls were well spread, with no particular area receiving a large proportion of the tasks.

During the month of July, Pakenham SES received 45 calls.

Monday evening training is also progressing well with a number of members nearing assessments for General Rescue and a number of members commencing the rigorous training for Road Accident Rescue Accreditation.

On Saturday 8th September 2007, at 10:00am the Pakenham Road Rescue Unit was called to a road accident on Woori Yallock Rd in Cockatoo.

The head-on crash involved 2 vehicles, a blue Toyota and a red Ford, with people trapped in each vehicle. The impact was sufficient enough to cause the Ford to roll, eventually coming to rest on its wheels.

Rescuers used motorised rescue tools to remove the side of both vehicles.

The male driver of the Toyota utility, the driver and a chid passenger of the Ford were airlifted from the scene by two helicopters.
The remaining 2 passengers of the Ford sustained minor injuries.

Rescuers remained on scene until approx 11:30am.

Pakenham SES has experienced their busiest week for some time.

Up until 30th July, the SES had received 19 calls for assistance.

Trees on Road: 6
Storm Damage: 4
Building Damage: 1
Flood: 1
Road Accident: 4
'Persons' Locked In Vehicle: 3

The strong winds and accompanying rain on 31sth July saw those figures more than double. SES received 26 calls for assistance between the hours of 7:30pm and midnight.

Trees on Road: 20
Building Damage: 6

The worst hit area was Pakenham itself, with 85% of calls made to that area..

This trend continued into the remainder of the week as the clean-up continued with many requests received.

1st Aug: 9 calls
2nd Aug: 2 calls
3rd Aug: 1 calls
4th Aug: 2 calls

The Pakenham Road Rescue Unit was called to a road crash at 10:25am on Thursday 26th July 2007.

Arriving on scene at Ballarto Rd Clyde, crews were confronted by a tray-truck that had collided with a power-pole.

The collision broke the concrete power-pole in two, with part of the pole finishing up under the truck, and the high-voltage lines resting close to the truck.

Once power companies isolated power, the rescue proceeded with the use of motorised rescue equipment to open the passenger door.

Rescue crews were on scene for approximately 1 hour.

Pakenham Road Rescue Unit was called to a collision near the intersection of Princess Highway and Cardinia Road, Officer.
The call-out occurred at approximately 11:45 at night.

On arrival at the scene, rescue crews found a male occupant trapped in a vehicle that came to rest on its roof.

Rescue crews used motorised hydraulic tools and high-pressure airbags to raise the car and to release the occupant.

The male was airlifted to hospital.

Crews remained on site until 3:00am provided lighting for police.

Pakenham SES Media Release 20/06/07 xx:xx ***

Pakenham SES has experienced a significant drop in calls for
assistance during the last 2 months.
Requests for assistance that have been recieved included
Child-Locked-In-Car (cancelled),
Road Rescue (stopped, no person trapped) and a few calls for trees on
the road (nothing of significant size or impact).

Pakenham SES has used this lull in our workload to continue and
accelearate some training.

5 members have gained qualifications for Flood-Boat Operations,
2 members have gained qualifications in the use chainsaws,
2 members have gained qualifications in 4-wheel-drive Operations.

Pakenham SES also used the time to send one member to NSW as part of the initial VICSES Taskforce.

The Taskforce of 60 members was sent by VICSES to assist NSW agencies as a result of the sever storms & floods.

Further information regarding the assitance provided to NSW by VICSES members can be foundon the VICSES website at www.ses.vic.gov.au

Pakenham SES has been continuing with our recruitment drive with
approximately 8-12 people expressing interest in becoming part of the
team.

Any persons interested in becoming part of Pakenham SES are invited to
contact us

During the recent storms last week, Pakenham SES received 2 calls for assistance.

The first on Thursday 3rd May at 6:20am for a tree down in Nar Nar Goon.

The second event was also on 3rd May at 4:25pm for a flood in Pakenham.

2 SES members also received the shock of a lifetime.

After returning from the morning task, the members were standing outside the garages of the SES Headquarters on Princess Highway, Pakenham when the tower containing all the communications antenna was struck by lightning.

The strike cause the destruction of one of the CFA antenna, damage to SES radios within the precinct, and associated equipment.

The Pakenham Road Rescue Unit has had a busy weekend attending 4 road crashes and a child-locked-in-car.

The first incident occurred at approx 3am on Friday morning near the intersection of Princess Hwy and Botanic Dr, Pakenham.

The second incident occurred at approx 12:30pm Friday 30 March near the intersection of Princess Hwy and Station St, Officer.

Rescue crews used motorised tools to remove the passenger side of the vehicle.

The third incident occurred at approx 1:30pm Saturday 31 March near the intersection of Narre-Warren-Cranbourne Rd and Lansell Close, Narre-Warren South.

The incident involved a total of 4 cars, with a single female passenger of one vehicle requiring rescue.

Rescue crews used hydraulic tools to open the passenger door.

The forth incident occurred at approx 4:30pm Saturday 31 March.

Rescue crews were called to a child locked in a vehicle located at Casey Central Shopping Centre.

The child was removed from the vehicle by the mother just prior to crews arriving on scene.

The fifth incident occurred at approx 6:15am Sunday 1st Apr near the intersection of Narre Warren-Cranbourne Road and Fleetwood Drive, Narre Warren.

The collision involved 2 vehicles, one of which also collided with a power poll.

The collision required crews to utilise motorised tools to free the driver of one vehicle, and the passenger of the second vehicle.

At approximately 9:10am Friday 16th Feb 2007, volunteers from the Pakenham Road Rescue Unit was called to an accident near the intersection of Starling Rd and Princess Hwy, Officer.

On arrival, rescue crews found that a single vehicle had left the road and fallen into a roadside drain.

The male passenger of the vehicle was trapped and was released by rescue crews.

Rescue crews departed the scene at approximately 10am.

Pakenham SES received approx 50 calls for assistance during the strong winds experienced on Sunday 11th Febuary, 2007.

The first job was received at approx 9am with the remaining jobs received between midday and 8:30pm.

SES Crews remained active until approx 1:30am Monday morning.

Approximately 75-80% af the calls received related to trees having fallen on roads, whilst the remainder of the calls were for damage to buildings.

The majority of the calls came from the Berwick, Officer and Pakenham areas, with additional calls from the surrounding area.

Pakenham SES had further 4 calls for assistance on Monday 12th February.

Pakenham SES would like to remind people that training for 2007 takes place on Mondays at 19:30, Emergency Sevices Complex, Princess Hwy, Pakenham.

Any person wishing to enquire about joining the SES can either visit the unit during training, visit www.ses.vic.gov.au, or phone 1300 842 737.

The Pakenham SES has again been busy during this holiday season.

Pakenham SES operated two "Driver Reviver" sites during the holiday break, outbound at Nar Nar Goon on Friday 22nd Dec 06, and inbound at Officer on 1st Jan 07.

Pakenham SES also attended many other jobs within the community:
22nd Dec 06 - Storm damage in Beaconsfield, wind had blown down a fence.
23rd Dec 06 - Road Accident at Princess Hwy, Garfield.
24th Dec 06 - Road Accident at Ballarto Rd, Koo Wee Rup Rd, Koo Wee Rup.
25th Dec 06 - Road Accident at Monash Fwy, Princess Hwy, Narre Warren.
25th Dec 06 - Road Accident at Princess Hwy, Nar Nar Goon.
26th Dec 06 - Animal Rescue - Cow stuck in mud, Garfield.
27th Dec 06 - Child Locked In Vehicle, Narre Warren.
27th Dec 06 - Flood, Pakenham.
2nd Jan 07 - Road Accident at Monash Fwy, Sth Gippsland Fwy
5th Jan 07 - Storm Damange, tree down, Pakenham
6th Jan 07 - Storm Damage, flapping seen on roof of Cummunity
Centre, O'Neil Rd, Princess Hwy, Beaconsfield.

Pakenham SES would like to remind people that training starts again on
Monday 15th Jan at 19:30, Emergency Sevices Complex, Princess Hwy Pakenham.

Any person wishing to enquire about joining the SES can either visit the
unit during training, visit www.ses.vic.gov.au, or phone 1300 842 737

The Pakenham Road Rescue Unit have been called to numerous incidents during a tragic holiday period.

The first call-out occurred at 17:33 on Christmas Eve.

The incident involved a single car roll-over on Ballarto Rd near Koo Wee Rup Road.

No action was taken by rescue crews.

The next call-out accurred at 2:16am on Christmas Day.

The incident involved a single car collision, inbound on the Monash Fwy, just prior to the Princess Highway exit.

This event claimed the of the male driver.

Rescue crews remained on scene for approximately 3 hours, providing lighting and other support services.

The second call-out for Christmas Day occurred at 6:10am.

This incident involved a single car that had collided with the road-work barriers on the Princess Hwy at Nar Nar Goon.

The accident also claimed the life of the female driver.

Again, rescue crews remained on scene for approximately 3 hours.

The last event occurred at 3:04pm on 2 January.

The Pakenham Road Rescue Unit was called to an accident on the corner of Monash Fwy and Princess Hwy Narre Warren.

On arrival, the location was ammended to the corner of Monash Fwy and Sth Gippsland Fwy and the Pakenham Unit was cancelled as the event was outside Pakenham's boundary.

The Pakenham Road Rescue Unit have been called to 2 separate accidents recently.

The first accident occurred at approximately 4:50am on 19th December 2006.

On arrival, it was found that a single vehicle had collided with a horse.

The incident closed the Princess Highway to West bound traffic.

The accident claimed the life of both the horse and the single male driver.

Volunteers remained on site until approximately 8am to assist Police.

The second accident occurred at approximately 5:45am on the 20th December 2006, at the corner of Narre Warren North and Ernst Wanke Roads, Narre Warren North.

The male occupant of the van was trapped for approximately 35mins after his vehicle collided with a truck.

The male was taken to hospital by air-ambulance in a serious condition.

The Pakenham Road Rescue Unit urges all drivers to be patient and careful during the holiday season.

Pakenham SES farewells 2006

Pakenham SES held its final training night for 2006 on Monday 11th Dec.ember

Members took the opportunity to relax and review the events of last year.

For some, 2006 was a year of achievement, with many members gaining new qualifications.

For others, 2006 was "business as usual".

2007 will hold many challenges for Pakenham SES, including the relocation from Purton Rd to the new Emergency Services Complex on Princess Highway.

It is anticipated that Pakenham SES will be fully operational from the Complex when training returns on Monday 15th January.

Pakenham SES and its Members would like to take the opportunity to thank community for all the support over the last 12 months, and urges drivers to take care over the holiday period.

Pakenham SES wishes everybody a joyous and safe holiday season.

At approximately 7:50am Monday, 4th Dec 2006, volunteers from the Pakenham Road Rescue Unit were called to a collision on Huxtable Rd, Pakenham Upper.

On arrival, rescue crews found a 4WD had collided with a tree.

Unfortunately, the accident claimed the life of the female occupant.

Rescue crews remained on scene to assist Police.