Ann Sudmalis (Gilmore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Sunday was Father's Day, and I hope everyone's dad had a terrific day. My diary showed I was to turn up to Operation Hercules. At 8:30 am, I dutifully arrived at Jervis Bay airfield, part of the base facility at HMAS Creswell at the School of Survivability and Ship Safety. The event was the Shoalhaven Combined Emergency Services training camp exercise. The scenario was set that a plane carrying paratroopers had earlier clipped one of the buildings and crash landed, and there was a scattering of mock casualties. Firstly the fire brigade attended the flaming wreck and controlled that. Then the paramedics arrived with their ambulances, seeking out the casualties. Police officers were coordinating and the SES were checking the safety aspects. The teams worked smoothly and methodically, then progressing into the mock burning interiors, full-blown flames and dense smoke, while searching for injured personnel. The visitors were able to watch all of this from the observation tower, using the special cameras used for exactly that purpose—assessing the ability of those involved inside the smoking, flaming spaces to navigate, locate the source and find injured victims. Every member of the Navy spends time at this type of facility, learning to deal with all manner of fire hazards and smoke problems. There is no fire brigade to call when you are on a ship at sea.

Last year, while on exchange with the Navy on a patrol boat, I also experienced wearing all the clobber of a duty fire officer. It is hot, awkward and uncomfortable. I can absolutely compliment everyone doing the training. It is extraordinarily difficult. Members of the Navy were the guides, the mock injured and, occasionally, the instructors. One safeguard event occurred when one of the injured, covered in mock blood and traumatised, actually felt unwell. She could not have been in a better place. She was in the best of hands with the paramedics and was quickly assisted into an ambulance.

Part of the event included searching the bush for a lost paratrooper, who had been travelling on the now crashed plane. The events also included a snakebite and other injuries including broken bones and other assorted first aid conditions that caused the team to respond appropriately. Another part of the search involved marine rescue, who had been tasked to search for bodies of survivors on Jervis Bay itself. The vessels had a very distinct search pattern—until this too was interrupted by a very real event: a rock fisherman was washed off rocks at Little Beecroft and into the ocean. His companion threw the angel ring and called for help, which was almost immediately in place due to Operation Hercules being onsite in the immediate vicinity. The final participant of the exercise was the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter. It was then brought in to winch the fishermen up to the helicopter. The helicopter then returned to its normal search role in the exercise of Operation Hercules. The expertise and dedication of our Navy, local police, state emergency services, rural fire services, marine area command, ambulance, state protection units and support unit, marine rescue and the Westpac Life Saver Rescue Helicopter personnel never ceased to amaze me. Thank you from the people of Gilmore.