WA Radio Scanner Users' Group

Depending on the height of the industrial building. The tallest acrow prop (for those who dont know an acrow is a fully adjustable shoring prop) is 3.6m extended so if any taller, it would pretty much be out of the hands of the SES. In worst case scenario the area would be evacuated and taped off until structural engineer makes an assessment.

no not necessarily...where you can't use an acrow use timber.

Cat1 USAR is a level below the General Rescue course (in fact if you have G/R you only have to fill out the RPL document for the competency although I would recommend sitting the Cat1 then doing the G/R)
The SES progressive training pathway now has Cat 1 USAR as a prerequisite for General Rescue (after Senior First aid and Knots test 4).

Hi Nick, is that the G/R TRK which is still being designed, or the TRP? Pity it doesn't work the other way around, I could then apply to become a General Rescue instructor without having to do the course again! haha

TRP still. Hopefully soon we will get the TRK (and the senior first aid TRK, we are hoping to run a pilot next month for the SFA)

Nick

Thanks for the replies. I was interested in the quote that SES turned out in the USAR role. To the best of my knowledge the only Cat 2 USAR personal are Career FRS.

In regards to the comment about if the height is greater than 3.6 use timber, be VERY careful with this. As the length of a prop increases (doesn't matter if its an acro or timber), the load capacity reduces and can reduce significantly. If your training doesn't cover the situation you are to perform, seek expert help.

And good luck finding timber that will bear any amount of load at that length. Timber has way too much flex in it for propping any height over 3.6m. it would be a waste of time and getting a snug fit would be difficult without wedging, which creates shock which is dangerous.

observer wrote:Thanks for the replies. I was interested in the quote that SES turned out in the USAR role. To the best of my knowledge the only Cat 2 USAR personal are Career FRS.

Yes...and no.
Category 1 Rescue Operators are commonly referred to as surface rescuers, they are SES members and if memory serves me correctly all Fire and Rescue Crew Members.
Category 2 is actually broken down into a number of levels, according to the participants resource of my TRK sitting in front of me a USAR Cat 2 Task Force consists of: Task Foce leader, Task force engineer, 2x Logistics officers, K9 Handlers, Team Leaders, USAR Operators, Paramedics, Hazmat specialists, Communications officers, 2x Watch officers and Clerical officers.
These actually have an order, but basically for the most part they are either 3rd party to FESA i.e. the paramedics, or FRS, however SES volunteers in WA can become Equipment or Logistics officers if they have been in the SES for more than 10 years and meet a couple of other requirements.
The TRK defines USAR Cat 2 Operators as crews that are going to use specialised equipment, accessing voids and confined spaces, and training focusing on long duration incidents.
Category 3 is directed at the command control and management of the taskforce (not incident)

Further down it says, that the 3 tier setup is not just aimed at one agency it facilitates multi agency responses, such as FRS, ambulance, police and other emergency services.

So when you say the SES are called to carry out the USAR role, exactly what role are they expected to perform?

observer wrote:So when you say the SES are called to carry out the USAR role, exactly what role are they expected to perform?

I think that was answered in the post above yours.

Well in the case of a car vs house or this truck vs warehouse, it would have been stabilisation of the side walls. Stabilisation of the roof and overhead wall if required. If the vehicle is still in place depending on personal on site it could include the removal of the vehicle, as it was in the case of the truck and the last car vs house. Then any temporary shielding with either tarps, or plastic.

treeny wrote:Can You Help Me??

I'm looking for a way of getting information on whats coming in the way of weather. I get alerts from my manager at least 24 hrs before a storm in due to hit but i want to be able to get an idea of whats coming a little further in advance

TREENY

G'day Treeny

Best I have apart from BOM is:
www.weatherzone.com.au
Similar Radar's to BOM's site but with the added benefit of displaying the location of lighting strikes on the radar loop.
Handy to see if a front line is 'Electrical.' Costs $5 per month for localised loops and they do have a free trial.
They also have an SMS service at a small cost. I have it set up to txt me as soon as a severe weather warning for Perth is published by BOM.

http://www.seabreeze.com.au/graphs/wa.asp
Have been following their wind forecasts this winter and the graphs seem to be very accurate in forecasting the timing of high wind events associated with frontal crossings.

Seeya next Tuesday.

Metro Regional Disaster Rescue Exercise will be held at Wanneroo this Saturday 25th July 17:00 - 23:00
Don't know what frequencies will be in use

Scan all frequencies...Wanneroo uses channel 5, Stirling uses 6, and the excercise is actually in the city of Stirling.
Have a listen folks and if you can be around the City of Stirling as there will be a lot of stuff transmitted on Simplex!

For those in the SES - how was last night's training excercise??

G