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Much of the 'leftover' information has been collected and placed here. The topics covered include communication methods, hierarchy of the unit, how we receive calls, response times and the peer support network(CIS).

Communication methods

The Pakenham unit has a many methods of communication. We use telephones, mobiles phones, portable, vehicle mounted and permanent radios using Ultra High Frequency(UHF) and High Frequency(HF) radios.

All of the vehicles have UHF radios mounted in them. Our primary rescue and secondary rescue vehicles also have HF radios too. The UHF radios are used for communicating to SES Dispatch, formerly known as Intergraph. Pakenham SES uses the SES radio Channel 7 as their primary radio communication method.

The HF radio is used in though terrain, such as in forest areas where reception to repeaters is difficult. The HF radio is not commonly used and is be used in larger emergencies, such as earth quakes, war etc.

Hierarchy

At Pakenham, we have a non military hierarchy. The hierarchy exists in terms of jobs that people are in charge of, but as a unit of around 40, we are all mates and are generally informal and don't implement anything military.

The hierarchy is as follows.

Call Outs

Pakenham State Emergency Service and Nar Nar Goon CFA are the only units in the State of Victoria to jointly respond as a rescue service to form the Pakenham Road Rescue Unit.

Under this arrangement, members of both services work together to produce multi-skilled rescue team who can efficiently extricate and rescue trapped persons.

The are a few ways in which we are called out. The most common method is via the Orange paging network.

A call is often received by 000 operator and from that call we can be responded. If the call taker can not establish is someone is trapped, then we are automatically responded, just in case that someone is trapped. If however someone is trapped then we will be responded concurrently with the Ambulance.

When a call is received, it goes via a CAD boundary system, which responds a unit according to the where the job is.

We can also be responded by other services, such as the Police (VicPol), the Ambulance Service (MAS) and fire service (CFA), this will generally be via the pagers too.

Another way which rarely happens, is to be called on the radio as to where a job is.

The other way that Pakenham SES can be contacted is via the State Emergency Service hotline, on which a call taker will take the job.

To contact us directly, go to the Contact Us page.

What happens if we are at a job and we get another one?
The joint response with Nar Nar Goon CFA allows two rescues at two separate accidents to be carried out at the same time if necessary. One unit can go to each job, thus saving time and having to call another unit from out of the area.

Are we on a roster system?
Unlike some SES units, Pakenham does not have a roster system. With carefully managed crews, we make sure that there is always a rescue crew around, even if there is a crew out on a storm damage job. Pakenham SES has about 40 members, and of those a small crew of 15 live in Pakenham with well over half of them road rescue accredited.

Peer Support (Critical Incident Stress, CIS)
The Victoria State Emergency Service has a peer support service where members can talk to peer support members about jobs or anything on their mind. This service is freely available to all members and can be used at any time, day or night.

This service is usually used by members who are effected by jobs. The jobs which have the potential to effect members the most are; when there are fatalities or multiple fatalities, children, members of the service, known family member or friend and large jobs.

People say "can't you talk to a doctor?". The simple answer to that is yes. But given there is a free service available, that would be silly. Members of the SES are involved in a highly specialised type of work, and therefore a high level of counseling is available for them with people who are involved and know what the members are talking about.

This support service is slowly being implemented in to other services and has had a high success rate amongst SES members.

What about training?
Members train on Monday nights. Please go to our training page to learn more about what we learn. Go to our 'How Do I Join' page for more information about joining and training times.