Emergency crews to strut stuff

KATINA CURTIS A WIDE range of emergency services will be on display on Black Beach reserve on Saturday in the inaugural Emergency Services Expo. The displays have been organised by Minnamurra Rotary Club in conjunction with Kiama Council and Tourism Kiama. Rotary club secretary David Ferne said he understood this was the first time a service club had tried to get all the emergency services together on the same day to show what they did. He said the idea originally came from school student Tim Patterson, who organised a display with some of the emergency services at Albion Park High School to give information for students thinking of joining one of the groups. Mr Ferne heard about this and talked with Tim and the Rotary Club eventually developed the idea further to have a public day involving all the emergency services. At the start of the week, Mr Ferne said he had 12 services confirmed, including the State Emergency Service, NSW Fire Brigade, the Rural Fire Service, the police, NSW Ambulance, local surf-lifesaving clubs and the Salvation Army. “I also had a phone call on Friday from the air ambulance and they’re going to land their helicopter there on the end of the point,” he said. Kiama fire brigade captain Peter Mitchell said he was putting together a display. “We’ll have the standard pumper from Kiama and a rescue truck from Wollongong and another specialised vehicle that can be used for any major incidents called a rescue pod,” he said.