Be prepared

LESSONS learned from natural disasters in recent years are being passed on in the form of training for emergency response volunteers.
Volunteer Co-ordinator for Southern Downs Regional Council, Bette Bonney, said council supported the training sessions to help local communities feel confident that they could respond in an emergency.
“We all hope that the extreme weather events of the past few years won’t happen again, however we do need to have a sense of readiness if they do,” Ms Bonney said.
She said recent unseasonal flash storms, such as that at Pratten, raised further the need for skilled local volunteers who could respond spontaneously.
“There are enormous skills and talents within our Southern Downs communities and if we can gather these volunteers to provide some training we will certainly have a strong foundation on which to build our counter disaster strategies,” Ms Bonney said.
“We discuss a number of topics including responsibilities of a volunteer, essential communication skills, working in a team, basic support skills, basic risk management and self care.
“We also look at duties during and after a disaster and the logistics of co-ordinating people and resources to best effect.
In Warwick a training session will be held at Warwick CWA hall on Tuesday, 29 October from 9am until 1.30pm and Thursday 31 October from 6pm to 9pm.
In Allora, training will occur on Monday, 21 October from 6pm until 9pm.
Sessions are being organised for Killarney.
Interested parties are invited to register with SDRC on1300 697 372.