Eye-catching: Michael D’Elia, Stuart Zanelli and Nacole Standfield in front of their rescue boat. Shepp search and rescue is looking for volunteers.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
Shepparton Search and Rescue is looking for more volunteers to join the team.
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According to vice-president Michael D’Elia, the organisation need about 25 volunteers to function efficiently.
At the moment, it is operating with about 15 active members.
“We really need to have a membership base of about 25 for us to really be confident about the service we provide,” Mr D’Elia said.
“It does put a lot of pressure on those 14 or 15 people to be ready and available all the time.”
Stuart Zanelli has been a volunteer with Shepparton Search and Rescue for 14 years. He said while “family comes first” he was always happy to help out.
“I just like rolling up my sleeves with the community,” he said.
President Nacole Standfield said the organisation needed volunteers with all types of skills.
She also said not everyone needed to be willing to be a first responder at emergencies.
“We have people that solely do administration work,” Ms Standfield said.
“They don’t have to attend a road crash or a land search.”
Put your hand up: Shepparton Search and Rescue volunteer Stuart Zanelli has been a member for 14 years.
Photo by
Rechelle Zammit
The organisation also sponsors volunteers to complete an array of training courses including chainsaw safety, and emergency response training.
“They'll learn how to do road crash rescue, they'll learn how to cut trees up, they'll learn how to sandbag,” Mr D’Elia said.
“All of our training is free and nationally accredited.”
The organisation will host five information nights in May, beginning on Tuesday, May 3.
“We’ll talk about what the process is to become a member, the training involved and what we expect from people in that first six to 12 months,” Mr D’Elia said.
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