State Emergency Service

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Western Australia SES OKA 4WD vehicle.

Victorian SES volunteers working to free the victim of a car crash.

A State Emergency Service is an Australian volunteer organization that provides emergency help in floods, storms and other emergencies. Every state and territory in Australia has its own State (or Territory) Emergency Service, and there are 43,000 volunteers spread across the country.

Because every community is different, every SES Unit has a slightly different set of roles and activities. Depending on local needs, a Unit may perform some or all of these roles:

General rescue procedures and skills — working safely to remove people from dangerous situations
Flood and storm preparation and response — making structures safe after floods and storms, helping people prepare for floods and storms and using specialised equipment like flood boats and chainsaws
Operations management — helping to coordinate the activities of teams in the field
Media, public relations and community education — working with the media and the public to communicate safety messages and warnings and to promote the SES to the community
Training coordination — helping to plan and carry out the training in a Unit
Vertical rescue — rescuing people from heights and depths such as cliffs or ravines
Road-crash rescue — rescuing people from crashed vehicles
Logistics — helping to plan how to acquire, distribute and use resources during emergencies
Management — helping the Unit to run smoothly
Emergency services liaison — working with representatives of other emergency services during emergencies
Urban Search and Rescue — extending basic rescue techniques to situations such as collapsed or unstable structures, using specialised equipment such as after bombs or explosions.

Emergency contact numbers

For life-threatening emergencies in any part of Australia, telephone 000 for immediate assistance. Mobile phone users can call 000 or 112 from any phone on any available network. The 112 number will work even when the phone is locked or has no sim card.

In Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia, the telephone number for all SES units is 132 500. In Western Australia, the number is 1300 130 039. In the ACT, the number is 6207 8455. In Queensland, Tasmania and Northern Territory, there is no state-wide telephone number. However, if in the Brisbane area call Brisbane City Council on 3403 8888.

In South Australia, calls and dispatch are managed by the Metropolitan Fire Service, having previously being managed by the CFS. This is in preparation for full deployment of the South Australian Computer Aided Dispatch (SACAD) system. Management of this implementation is by Justice Business Services, a section of the Attorney-General's Department of South Australia.

External links

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