Local Leaders | Wingecarribee SES: Challenge vital for personal growth

Being a volunteer with NSW State Emergency Service encapsulates this sentiment.

You give up so much time.

Time you could be spending with your family and friends, time that you could devote to hobbies and professions, time that you give for free and that you will never be compensated for or get back.

You work in environments and witness moments of emergency that can be dangerous and confronting.

I’ll never forget the first time I worked at a fatal accident, when a young man passed away in front of me as I worked frantically to remove him from the vehicle that had engulfed him.

It felt as though all the work I had done up to that moment was for naught, that despite my efforts, what I had tried hadn’t been enough and that perhaps if I’d worked just a little bit harder he maybe would have made it through.

I know I did the best I could, and since then I’ve been more reflective and stoic, but witnessing a young man pass away has made me realise that life is very short and can be taken away indiscriminately at any moment.

In such moments I reflect on the work I do at SES. I ponder the difficult conversations, the scenes of carnage and chaos and the fury of weather, but I always come back to how rewarding it is.

It is through challenge, through long hours of preparation and training, through team work and persistence, that difficulty is overcome.

It’s in these moments that we realise who we are and what we are capable of, what we can do when we train hard and work as a team, and that seemingly insurmountable obstacles become just bumps to be stepped over.

Being an SES volunteer is about growing, it’s about learning who you are and what you can do.

If you want to learn about yourself, meet some others that are constantly learning and be part of a team that is on a journey of discovery, we’ll be recruiting again in the New Year.

Find out more on our Facebook page.