The Healesville SES Unit is set to receive a boost thanks to the latest round of grants through the Volunteer Emergency Services Equipment Program (VESEP).
$167,567 has been provided to the unit to go towards a new light rescue vehicle, bolstering their fleet and helping to meet the increasing demand for emergency response.
Unit controller Karen Picone said receiving the grant is absolutely amazing.
At the moment, we only have a Medium Rigid Vehicle, which doesn’t go up a lot of our roads when they’re dirt or steep, so this vehicle will be able to get into areas that we struggle to get into at the moment,” she said.
“We have been lucky enough that the state SES has loaned us two rescue four-wheel drives so we do have the capability, but this is our long-term fix because they want those back.
“We’ve been lucky over the last 12 months of having the two four-wheel-drive rescue vehicles, our turn-out times are amazing, we have eight minutes to be out for a road rescue and we’re making under that so that’s an amazing effort by everyone involved.”
Over $30 million in VESEP grants have been awarded to Country Fire Authority (CFA), Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES), Life Saving Victoria Volunteer Marine Search and Rescue and other emergency service organisations in the latest round. Almost $20 million has been awarded to buy and purpose-fit 40 vehicles, more than $5 million provided to update 15 facilities and more than $1 million to purchase operational equipment across the state.
Ms Picone said they take great pride in their prompt turn-out times.
“A medium vehicle is great because it’s bigger, so in a highway situation it gives us more protection as well as it holds a lot more equipment, so that is its great advantage,” she said.
“But at the moment it’s quite slow because it’s new and it’s still running in, so we would anticipate that the light rescue would go ahead and start organising a rescue and the medium rigid would come up behind.
“If we needed, we could have a vehicle on both sides of an incident as well, which sometimes is helpful.”
Units, brigades and other emergency organisations can apply for a grant of up to $250,000 – a $100,000 increase from the previous maximum – with the Victorian Government contributing $2 for every $1 raised by the local volunteer group.
Ms Picone said having fresh and available equipment is very important to the unit.
“As an SES unit, we have to supply a lot of our equipment ourselves; that’s why fundraising is so important for us, we get one vehicle per unit that is state-owned and the rest are supplied between the unit and grants if we’re successful with them,” she said.
“That’s why this is such an amazing thing to get because it means that we are not having to raise the whole amount of money, we’re only paying a third of the cost of it.
“$83,000 from a small unit like Healesville is still a lot of money to raise but it’s going to make a difference to us and to how we are able to assist the community.”
The controversial Emergency Services and Volunteers Fund helps fund the VESEP program, and the boost it will provide to funding is forecast to see VESEP doubled over the next four years, up to $62 million.
“These grants are incredibly popular every year, and we’ll keep backing in our volunteers, helping them focus on what they do best – protecting lives and property,” Minister for Emergency Services Vicki Ward.
“With more funding on offer than ever before – almost double – we’re showing our determination to support our hardworking emergency services volunteers.”
