Annangrove Girl Guides recently took part in an emergency resilience program with the NSW State Emergency Service (SES), emerging as empowered and resilient young women ready to tackle emergency situations with confidence and skill.
The guides took part in a variety of activities led by their facilitator, Mr. Daniel McGovern. They learned how to prepare for storms and floods, tie a variety of knots, load and transport casualties on a stretcher, use fire extinguishers and hand tools, learn basic flood rescue techniques, and build sandbag walls.
“I really enjoyed working with the young people in our community and providing them with the skills and self-assurance they need to handle emergency situations,” Daniel stated. It’s amazing to watch each guide step outside of their comfort zone in a secure environment and do new activities, like searching up their address in a street directory or utilising a fire extinguisher.”
The programme and the chance to interact with the NSW SES proved to be really enjoyable for the guides. Some guides said, “We loved rescuing each other,” and “Can Daniel come every week?”
Annangrove Girl Guides leader, Amanda said, “The course was enormously beneficial to the girls. The subjects covered were broad and very relevant to the girls. Every child and adult can learn from this course.”
The NSW SES is a volunteer-based organisation that works with communities to prepare and respond to severe weather events and are the lead agency for flood, storm and tsunami in NSW. For emergency assistance call 132 500.
For information on volunteering with the NSW SES, visit https://www.ses.nsw.gov.au/ and click ‘Volunteer’. For information on joining Girl Guides, contact [email protected]
