On Saturday, the Rivers Commander, Vicki Munslow and Deputy Commander, Bec Noble, were both rated ‘competent’ as Emergency Operations Centre Operators. Both Vicki and Bec, who hold current Certificate II in SES Rescue, have achieved all of the competencies necessary to also meet the criteria for Certificate II in SES Operations.

Meanwhile two new recruits at Rivers Unit, Stephanie Tamm and Shane Johnson, successfully completed their traffic marshalling training with the Australian Federal Police (AFP) in Gungahlin during the weekend.   Now that they have been formally trained, Steph and Shane are eligible to be appointed as ‘Authorised Persons’ under Section 304 of the Australian Road Rules in certain circumstances, as are all SES volunteers who have successfully completed their traffic marshalling training.  It should be noted, that, when endorsed as Authorised Persons by the relevant Authority/ies, their direction is law on the road and disobeying their (reasonable) direction constitutes an offence (Section 304, sub-para 2).  Many people probably don’t even stop to think about it, but it takes skill and training to be able to control a major intersection and keep the traffic flowing!