Our emergency services are without doubt some of the best in the world. The Police, Ambulance, Fire Brigade, RFS, SES and our own Mines Rescue Service perform some of the hardest jobs out there under the most dangerous and stressful conditions.
Their safety and ours relies on the very best of training. Imagine if we built a training camp of ‘Army base’ sized proportions and capability to even better equip our emergency services on the front line on Hunter mine buffer land.
A permanent national emergency training home designed to enhance every training environment and situation you could imagine and a heap you probably can’t. From unique built and natural environment fire fighting to public disorder and riot training for the police the possibilities are endless. Mass casualty situations, terrorist, air, road and rail disasters – It could be a one stop shop to prepare for the unexpected. All forms of ambulance including road, our rescue helicopters and even the flying doctors could come into use at the facility.
With plenty of space, real scale disaster situations could be recreated, and response techniques honed to perfection.
A centralised campus housing administration, classroom-based learning along with on site accommodation and all the other facilities could all be developed and used as needed to expand training capabilities across all emergency services.
Having the ability for all services to train individually or come together in joint training exercises would hold high value for all involved. Another use could be for the physical conditioning and training of personnel so that they are at peak fitness when called into action.
Think of the whole thing like a national university and training facility for our emergency services. In fact, the whole place could also even provide basic training for people looking to embark on a career in emergency services and use it as a pre-training venue before entering their chosen service.
There are so many potential positives in a development like this and the economic benefits for surrounding support and supply industries are endless.
Ladies and gentlemen…this is not a drill.
