Volunteers from the Queanbeyan State Emergency Service have devised a way to better educate the community on important messages about staying safe during storms and flooding.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Their idea, said public information officer Brent Hunter, is to target the youngest generation.
It stems from the feeling of failure the volunteers get every time, for example, someone tries to get through floodwater. The fact their message hasn't reached that person, or that person has ignored the message, can lead to dire consequences.
The lack of receptiveness to the recent "stay out of floodwater" campaign has forced the volunteers into action.
Mr Hunter said the educational initiative would be delivered to children across schools, preschools and day-cares in the region: basically anyone who wants to get involved.
"We've been a big part of the community for 50 years. We're putting ourselves out there and trying to connect with the community a bit more," he said.
Mr Hunter hopes the young people they educate will take the message back to their families.
He said the idea was taking volunteers from SES back to the roots of the organisation.
"The Queanbeyan SES was born out of the deaths of two young girls in 1963," Mr Hunter said.
''They were down having a swim in the river when they went missing. There was an organised search with police and members of the public, and two of the men decided there should be an organised rescue service."
Mr Hunter said it was then that the Queanbeyan Civil Defence was established, which later became known as the State Emergency Service.
"I'm taking that historical link and pushing it back into our schools to get them early.
"If you start them young it just becomes second nature, where they don't feel the need to go and play or do stupid stuff near flood water."
Mr Hunter said their job as SES volunteers was to ensure people stay out of harm's way.
The idea was piloted at Googong Anglican School, and for the past two years SES volunteers have spent time educating students at the primary.
"That was the first school we got asked to do, and we got a really good response," Mr Hunter said.
To register your learning facility for an SES visit, email:
brent.hunter@member.ses.nsw.gov.au.