Joining SES / VMR

[SMB]

Have been thinking about joining the SES for a while now, and in the last couple of months have thought about the VMR also. Just wondering if anyone here who is in either organisation can provide some info on what I can expect to be doing in each organisation, if it's difficult to join etc. I've read a bit on the SES website, but am after any extra info you guys can provide, are you on call 24-7 ?

I'm in my mid 20's, quite fit and although most situations in these organisations are providing help, I would look forward to getting in "amongst it" to provide help. So any information anyone can provide me with on what I could expect to be doing, what area I would be doing it, would be appreciated, cheers.

[MulletMan]

Great to see someone who wants to help the community!

What you require are:

1. Guaranteed 110% sure fired commitment to your monthly roster. If you cannot turn up on every time then don't even consider joining.

2. 110% commitment to helping in fund raising each time every time!

3. Doing all the crappy and dirty work - not just on the sidelines watching everybody else do it

4. Accept the fact that volunteers are invariably inexperienced to start with and do not possess high boating skill standards but have to develop them over time.

5. If you resent criticism then don't join

6. Personality clashes occur on a daily basis and if you can't just move on then don't join

7. Appreciate and understand that a minimal percentage of volunteers will do all the tuff work to keep the unit going. The rest will usually make every excuse to dodge the non exciting stuff.

8. Be prepared to be abused by the MINORITY of boaties when you drag 'em back after they have broken down.

9. Get satisfaction from the knowledge you have assisted in helping the MAJORITY of Boaties who really support and appreciate your services.

10. Forget the glamour side of it, there isn't any! You will usually be going out when everybody else is coming back i.e. crap weather! Paddle about in mud, get soaking wet in the middle of winter, cold, miserable and trying to find some guy who doesn't where he is anyway! Cuts, falls, bruises, blood, exhausted are all part of the game!

11. Don't expect much thanks or recognition from anybody outside of your crew, you rarely get it!

12. Offer to help wherever, whenever, however you possibly can. There won't be many of you in the group!

13. Study anything that is marine related. Popping down to the Base once a month for a day or two is useless as you have no continuity or recency in handling vessels and without home study and preparation you will stagnate or go backwards. Most don't ....... a few do!

14. Appreciate that your selected VMR or AVCG Unit will be losing from $1,000 to $3,000 per week as Government subsidies have not substantially increased in some 24 years. Hence the need to fund raise!

15. Don't expect much vessel time. The average volunteer gets about forty hours per year and most of it is chucking ropes about and training. Rescues are getting fewer and fewer than they used to be - which is good!

16. Don't expect to go out every time the rescue vessel has a job. Somebody has to stay at home and run the shop.

17. When you have nothing to do, grab a mate(s) and clean up one of the boats, lockers, equipment etc.

Still with me? The biggest problem with volunteers is they rarely make the commitment to do ALL of the above! Forget the SES! Good guys but VMR or AVCG are better.

Ian Fischer
ex Commodore (thank God)
VMR Victoria Point

[Volvo]

Ide say you'd be most welcome at most bases.Just lob up n tell em youd be interested in doing a bit for the orgonisation either Boat crew or Radio sevice .
I,m sure they will find somewhere ta start you off at..
Cheers

[sf17fisherman]

GEZZ ian you make it sound like such a good thing to do

i bet you have them falling in the door after leting that one rip when trying to recrute

[MulletMan]

Yeh, it is kinda sad but unless you spell it out to new members they invariably sign up and then have a bit of a moan over everything they wern't told!
The average membership term of a VMR member is approximately ten (10) months and that means something is really wrong as why do they all leave so soon? Worse is that a good 25% only last a few months and/or taper off dramaticallyafter that?
If a member lasts twelve months a party is thrown and after two years you get to put yer handmark in cement! (well, almost!)
Since most Units have started having proper sit down interviews and vetting applicants very heavily, there has been some improvement but it is a depressing state of affairs nonetheless.
My (ex) Unit was very successful when they told interested members the positives and the negatives.
Some years back when it was simply a matter of signing an application and you were in, it was quite common for the newbie to do two rosters and not come back again.
Like any job, and it is these days albeit volunteer, it is far better to know the good and the bad before turning up for duty.
It also costs several thousands of dollars to train new members and we were very often "used" by those who wanted their free boat licence, first aid certificate and marine radio licence and then "bye bye, thanks very much I am going now ................."
And I guess to sign off, the major reason for leaving is just having to make the commitment and chip on all the things I mentioned.
Too many guys and gals think it is a weekend boating on the Bay and when they find it is more often a weekend cleaning and maintaining the boats and equipment, they lose interest.
My old mate SUBZERO, also from Vicky Point, will hopefully back me up here...... where r u Lloydy when I need you???
Most readers of Ausfish might be surprised to learn that even the very big rescue units can sometimes only field a small handful of volunteers on some weekends and the average membership of them can be as low as around the thirty mark though this flucuates wildly due to many of the commitments I discussed. I recall many times some of these units only having three or four on a weekend rostered day, not always,but now and then................
I'm dun, outa here!

[SMB]

Thanks for the reply, I was expecting a reply from you Pink Panther, after reading some of your other posts, very good information that I will take on board. Anyone with any SES experience ?

[longtail]

ian , during feb i sent an email to vmr viccy point expressing my interest to return to the unit(when i was a teenager i was one of the first cadets) to date i have not recieved a reply . could you tell me why they are not interested in taking on a new crew member who has his boat license , first aid and radio cert i also have my ayf tl3 cert as well???

when i sent them a email i got a auto reply saying they would ring me within 7 days , i'm still waiting for that call.

cheers
jason

[Bream_Reaper01]

Pink Panther,
Mate i know how you feel sort of,i coach baseball and i can relate to lots of what you say.I think all volunteers cop stick from time to time,but i know it makes us better people and we tend to have thicker skins.

[MulletMan]

Hi Jason,
Trying to recall you at the Unit..........
Were you the one who gave us all the help with the paint and the blinds some years back?
Lemme know if you were and I will see what has happened............

[land-lubber]

yes

i am in the SES currently, and am on standby for the cyclone in innisvale (im in the gatton unit, near toowoomba) just rock up to ur local shed on a monday night or give the SES controller a ring (there in the ph book under state emergency service) they take any1, so long as u dont have any serious crimes on ur police record. u do everything from tarping roofs to cutting down trees, trafic control, casulty handling, vertical rescue, land search, floodboat etc. well worth joining and a great group of ppl. Also, there are benefits, like it costs 10bucks 4 ur first aid + advanced CPR
if any1 has any qus, please send me a pm.

BTW, yes u are on call 24hr a day, usually by pager service, but it is a volunteer baisis, so if u have commitments, u dont have to go. in fact almost everything else is ment to come first, even sport! (not that im not getting extentions on assignments etc to get to cairns )

cheers

[longtail]

ian , i joined the unit back when it was called bris/redlands Air Sea Rescue . i joined early 1990 and left the unit early 1992 when i joined the army. my crew skipper was kerry turner. dunno if this helps at all (to be truthfull i don't remember you , so we may not have met).

cheers
jason

ps- i remember helping with throwing a coat of paint on the base , but was not involved with blinds.

[subzero]

longtail, just sent you a lenghthly e-mail regarding no one getting back to you and am trying to find out how this has happened.
Myself and my Missus administer the units webpages and I created the online form if that was your method of applying. Would like to get to the bottom of it so it doesnt happen again. Normally, even if we have no vacancies at the time, I like to recommend other units such as Raby Bay and North Straddy... we all struggle for members from time to time.
Cheers Lloyd

PP Yes, as you say, we do loose a lot of members from time to time because of the commitment and cost to the volunteer as well as the boredom and fundraising, sad but true... goes in stages, hopefully things are on the mend again at the moment with a full active membership again.
When I was Duty Skipper I basicly tried to talk people OUT OF JOINING so if they were still keen then hopefully they would stay. Honesty is the best policy and those that joined after one of my talks tended to stay on and make the commitment. Those that interviewed prospective members and glossed over the downsides tended to loose the new member within a year max. To get job's in Water Police, DPI and other Gov Depts a Volunteer background is extra brownie points, some people think that we spend so much time onb the water thast they will boost their seatime for commercial tickets... averaging 3 hours on water over a 48 hour Roster does not even give you 1 days seatime... many join for these reasons to accumulate the days. (Waste of your time and our fundraising money)

Cheers Lloyd

[seatime]

SMB, where are u, if ur in Brisbane VMR NSI would appreciate new members, especially members with experience, Vs or coxswains.
I've just joined and am planning on travelling over there each shift as I live on the bayside. With a limited pool to draw on from NSI anyone who can give a couple of days a month from the mainland would be welcome.
Plus, with NSI there's more chance of interesting bar work than the others. Some of the mainland VMRs are well stocked so call before u join up. pm me if u like and I can give u some more details about the travel, there is a watertaxi discount to shift members! regards Steve.

[coroboy]

SMB.
Gelsec is right about Nth Straddie. They are always in need of new volunteers as the island population is not big but a lot of boaties go out over the Sth passage bar and need Nth Straddie there in case of emergency.
If you look up the VMR website vmraq.org.au and click on the squadron link you should get contact details for VMR Nth Stradie. This is a good unit and you will learn a lot about boat handling, safety, weather, etc All training programmes are National Standard and quite in depth. There are exams to pass - practicle, written and oral.
Pink Panther and Subzero are also spot on. The drop out rate, if selection is based just on signing up, is quite high. If you are fully commited to the squadron and your roster you will get a lot back. Its just the usual story - you get back what you put in. My roster has many members with over 2 years clocked up and they have a great time as I tell them to. Those who join thinking it is all hero stuff like leaning out and grabing people out of the water as they do in Lifesaving or speeding around the bay all day in a vessel powered by 2 over 200hp engines soon leave. The sad part is that people say they will help with regular fundraising but are unavailable when their turn comes. If you cant do something then say so when you you sign up. I have been doing VMR work for over 2 years and love it. I started as an absolute novice as Pink Panther said many people do. AS for pesonalities of course where there are many people there will always be diferent opinions and discussions can be in depth. But hey that is natural and if you cant handle taking advice/critisism or accepting that there may be another way then dont even think about joining a VMR unit.
The plus side other than training is the time spent on roster means that you dont have to do any chores at home that weekend as you leave and arrive home in the dark. So you can put your lawn mower, paint brushes, workshop tools, hedgeclippers, carwash detergent etc away for the weekend. It also means that you may have to sell your own boat as your roster time will eat into your boating time. Think of your month going like this. Weekend 1 - VMR 2 x 12 hr days - maybe even more if a job is on. Weekend 2 -Too windy / raining, Football & beer with the boys, Weekend 3 - Family and friend commitments shopping with the wife, Football, Mother in law over for lunch / dinner. Weekend 4 - lots of jobs need doing before VMR roster next weekend and dont forget to get down to the pub with the mates as not time for this next weekend. There will be times that you will think that there is a 3 hour window for boating but then think that leaves only 2 hours when you take away the hour preparing, filling her up, buying bait, washing down, travelling etc so you decide that is not enough time. There will be another weekend coming up soon. I say - good luck to that happening. I know of guys who have nearly forgottenthat they have a boat parked out the back. I nearly forgot about mine till the rego renewel turned up the other week. Actually the motor is due for its annual service but I reckon it has only done 3-4 hours since the last one. If, after all what has been said by others and myself, you really want to join a VMR, Coast Guard or SES unit I say go for it. You will enjoy it and give a lot back to the community. If you are doing solely for personal gain there will be nothing there for you. But if you are doing it to help the community and the uint plus get something out of it for yourself as well you will be an asset to the unit. Once you become familiar with the workings of the unit you can be of further help by putting your hand up for further jobs such as committee work, boat maintenance, building repairs, radio work, fundraising co-ordination, training and much much more.
Ed

[Feral]

Its number 2 on the list that has always put me off joining the local SES etc. I hate putting my hand out for money, yet they all expect you to, its not enough to give your time or expertise, they want you to beg for em as well. I know its the only way they can get funds to run, but its not in my nature!

Was in the volunteer fire brigade for 5 years when I lived out west, it was great, no fundraising expected!