Enchaning maritime safety and in search and rescue
Search and rescue officers from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority’s (AMSA) Rescue Coordination Centre (RCC Australia) will be in Burnie on Thursday (today) to discuss operational aspects of Australia’s search and rescue system, present hypothetical situations and undertake tabletop exercises with Tasmania police officers.
On Friday in Wynyard, police officers will have the opportunity to undertake a practice air search and rescue operation in one of AMSA’s Dornier aircraft normally based at Essendon. AMSA’s General Manager Emergency Response Division, John Young, said the two-day workshop demonstrates the cooperative nature of search and rescue activities in Australia.
“AMSA works closely with its state and territory colleagues in maritime safety and in search and rescue. The state police services and AMSA are vital partners when responding to aviation, maritime and land distress situations,” he said.
“The relationship between RCC Australia and the Tasmania Police has led to many successful search and rescue operations. Workshops and practices such as these are ideal for search and rescue officers to understand the roles and responsibilities of all the key agencies during an emergency situation.”
“Training opportunities are important to ensure the skills employed by all the key agencies involved in emergency situations are current and emergent. It’s an opportunity to share experience and learn from our counterparts,” said Mr Young.
To date, RCC Australia and Tasmanian Police have cooperated on more than 10 search and rescue incidents in March 2012, resulting in the successful rescue of nine people.
Source: AMSA
