Maldon and Harcourt Fire Brigade members, Maldon Community Response Team (CERT) volunteers and Ambulance Victoria paramedics came together last Friday night at the Maldon Fire Station for a two-and-a-half-hour training session.

The CFA volunteers were instructed in CPR and in manual lifting techniques for moving patients safely. They were also given familiarisation tours of the equipment that is carried in a road ambulance and the CERT car.

As Maldon Fire Brigade Captain Sean McCubbin pointed out, CFA crews are often the first emergency workers to arrive at an accident. “It’s important that we have the skills to help save lives, and to assist paramedics when they arrive on the scene,” he said. “The training night was a fantastic opportunity for our organisations to exchange information and learn some new skills.”

Ben Miller, who is a Community Engagement Officer with Ambulance Victoria, attended last Friday’s session. He said that his organisation had been running training sessions involving CFA crews and other emergency service teams across the Loddon-Mallee region for the past 18 months.

“We’ve been teaching participants how to use evacuation sheets and spine boards, and upgrading CPR skills,” Ben said. “Research shows that the quality of CPR treatment diminishes greatly after two minutes because the person administering it becomes fatigued. If everyone on a CFA team is trained in CPR, they can take turns, and the procedure is more effective. And it’s also helpful if CFA crews know where equipment is stowed in an ambulance if it’s a situation where they need to assist the paramedics. That’s why we give the CFA volunteers a conducted tour of where spine boards and other equipment are stored in an ambulance.”

This article appeared in the Tarrangower Times, 31 March 2023.