Almost 30 high school students from Western Sydney will graduate from the NSW State Emergency Service (SES) youth internship program with leadership skills and storm preparedness tools for life.
The internship program invited 15 to 16 year-olds to deepen their understanding of natural disasters and emergency preparedness through hands on demonstrations with experienced NSW SES volunteers.
Once a week for 8 weeks, 27 students attended the NSW SES Hornsby Unit to learn new skills in communication, basic first aid, leadership, and flood and storm response.
Parliamentary Secretary for Emergency Services, Charishma Kaliyanda, said it was great to see this program inspiring future leaders.
“This internship program gives our young people the opportunity to learn practical skills for life, and provides great insight into the benefits of volunteering with an emergency service,” she said.
“It’s great to see the inter-agency collaboration involved too, with students visiting PolAir at Bankstown Aerodrome to understand their role in search and rescue operations alongside the SES.”
NSW SES Deputy Commissioner Debbie Platz APM said the program was an important initiative to help inspire the next generation of volunteers.
"Having the support of our young people in our communities helps to build our organisation. In this program we provide them with opportunities to discover more about what we do, hopefully inspiring them to join our ranks," Deputy Commissioner Platz said.
Deputy Commissioner Platz said the program, which was first trialled last year, demonstrated how keen young members of the community were to be mentored as the next cohort of leaders.
“Our volunteer SES mentors also had a great experience training and mentoring the interns,” she said.
“I know from last year’s cohort, a quarter of the interns who completed the program went on to become volunteer members of the SES and have been responding to recent weather events.”
NSW SES Hornsby Unit internship coordinator Amy Mawn said the program provides lots of transferable skills and valuable tools.
“It gives a sense of purpose and community spirit,” she said.
“We give students an insight into the various pathways within emergency services and have other agencies such as NSW Police, NSW Ambulance and Fire and Rescue NSW involved as well.”
The NSW SES Hornsby Unit has this year responded to more than 570 incidents to date, including 541 storm response jobs.
Media enquiries: NSW SES Media on 1800 067 234