Australia’s SES volunteers are often called on to undertake storm damage and land search operations, but they can also be called on to undertake search operations from the air.
Trained SES air search observers regularly assist the Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) in searches for missing aircraft, vessels or people in remote areas or at sea.
“Visual air searches are undertaken for aircraft, cars, vessels or people while flying at a relatively low altitude. SES observers play the essential role of looking for the target, which can often be very difficult to see,” AMSA acting Chief Executive Officer Mick Kinley said.
“Air observing is a demanding task, requiring intense concentration over extended periods of time,” Mr Kinley said.
To prepare SES volunteers for this task, AMSA regularly undertakes training courses across the country and this weekend, 18 volunteers from Cairns will go through the training.
“The course involves some theory such as the role of AMSA and beacon detection and then we take the volunteers up in an aircraft. We go through what objects look like from different heights and then test volunteers to spot an object, such as a buoy at sea,” Mr Kinley said.
“The training also involves what to do in case of an emergency at sea. We go through staying warm and staying together as a group in the water, and then we drop a life raft in and they have to inflate it,” he said.
Currently, more than 480 SES volunteers across 22 locations throughout Australia are trained as air search observers. Air observers can be tasked to help in searches across the country as well as overseas, such as the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea and New Caledonia.
Media Note: Media are invited to attend the training session at 1.30pm on Saturday, 31 August at Portsmith. Contact AMSA Media for location details.