A total of 20 SES volunteers from the northwest region gathered in Bingara for the first of what is hoped to be an annual Flood Boat Weekend a week ago.
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They came from all over, including Inverell, Warialda, Bingara, Moree and Glenn Innes.
The aim of the weekend was to keep the volunteers' skills in flood rescue techniques up and current, and to give them the opportunity to learn from more experienced flood rescue operators.
Six flood boats were used for the workshops, held on the waters of Copeton Dam and the Gwydir River at Bingara.
Gwydir Shire Local Controller Peter O'Brien said the weekend was about ensuring the volunteers were ready for any emergency that may arise.
"Workshops like this are so important" Mr O'Brien said.
"They give our NSW SES members the opportunity to learn new skills while also ensuring they are at the right level to be carrying out flood rescue operations" he said.
Over the two days, volunteers were tested through a series of scenarios. Scenarios included recovering a person from the water, mapping and navigating on the dam and river systems and also recovering a person trapped in rapid moving floodwater.
Region Learning and Development Officer Wes Macpherson was pleased to see so many volunteers participating in the workshop.
"Our NSW SES volunteers already give so much time to their communities, its just great to see them all here, smiling and ready for a challenge" he said.
Mr Macpherson said the weekend not only kept the rescue techniques fresh, it also contributed to the volunteers’ knowledge of the actual waterways.
Even though "they are all scattered across the region, they are one big orange family," he said, adding that when needed the "brothers and sisters" would travel to help out in surrounding districts.
For them all to have the same level of training was an advantage said Mr Macpherson.
With help from highly trained SwiftWater technicians, members were able to simulate a real life rescue of a person trapped in floodwater.
This gave the volunteers the ability to use skills they had learnt over the weekend and put them into practice.
As the lead agency for Emergency Flood Response, the NSW SES has a nationally recognised training program that gives members the skills to effectively save lives in times of flooding disasters.
