Volunteers from Werribee and Wyndham Vale fire brigades have again combined to be one of the best rescue teams in Australia and New Zealand, finishing fourth in the Australasian Road Rescue Challenge.
The event, run by the Australasian Road Rescue Organisation, brought together the best 17 teams from Australia and New Zealand to compete in an outback rescue challenge in Alice Springs last month.
The teams took part in six different events during the three-day challenge, including a trauma test and road rescue competition.
Werribee CFA captain Michael Wells and Wyndham Vale’s captain, Trevor Weston, won the trauma challenge.
During the challenge, they were asked to treat patients who had been “badly injured” in car crashes.
The Werribee/Wyndham Vale team finished second in the road rescue category, in which it had 30 minutes to free two people trapped in a car.
Team captain Rob Mitchell said the group finished the competition as the highest-ranked volunteer team.
He said taking part in the Road Rescue Challenge gave the volunteers a chance to work with the very finest of rescue teams.
“It brings together the best brigades and units … you get a chance to work with them and learn from them,” he said.
“We learn about all the latest tools and techniques, and bring that knowledge back to the CFA.”
In recent years, the Werribee and Wyndham Vale team has won the competition twice as well as finishing second in the world road rescue competition.
Mr Wells said taking part in competitions was good practice for the team, which was the busiest volunteer road rescue crew in Victoria.
“With increasing growth and more people on the roads, we’re called out to more motor vehicle crashes,” he said.
“It takes a challenge like this to make people aware of what we do, but it would be great if our truck never had to turn out.”
