Shoalhaven residents can rest easy knowing we have the very best in Australia to look after us in an emergency.
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Nowra SES has once again proved they are the best Remote Wilderness Search and Rescue team in Australia, winning the annual NSW Emergency Services Wilderness Navigation Shield, or NavShield as it is know, at Wombeyan Caves recently.
The premier long-distance navigation event attracted 138 teams and more than 500 competitors from a broad cross-section of local, interstate and overseas emergency and rescue organisations.
Nowra SES Team one, made up of Scott Wells, Brad Davis, Luke Vidaic and Darren and Marie Colquhoun, continued the tradition of successful Nowra SES teams by taking out the SES category of the event for the sixteenth consecutive year.
They also beat all other emergency service teams to take out the overall top honours, bringing the Navshield award back to the Shoalhaven for the fifth time since 2008.
Nowra SES Team two, made up of Gordon McKeown, Walter Deruyter, Nick Deruyter, and Dave Jones, also performed well, ranking fifth overall and placing second in the SES Service category.
Shoalhaven City Council, Mayor Joanna Gash congratulated the Nowra SES on their efforts, and said the Shoalhaven teams had become a force to be reckoned with in the annual competition.
“I am extremely proud to see our local teams produce such great overall result in the 2016 NavShield,” Cr Gash said.
“The Nowra SES teams are a great asset to the Shoalhaven community given the expanse of local wilderness.
“Their outstanding results clearly demonstrate that our local emergency services in the Shoalhaven have the depth and experience to deal with remote area navigation.
“The severe weather we have experienced just this week as well as the storm event in June and the floods of August 2015 illustrate the importance of Emergency Services and the critical role they play in our community,” she said.
Participants in the competition get to test their bush and compass navigation abilities in an overnight event through 100 square kilometres of wilderness and is an opportunity for the best navigation and rescue teams in the country to train in self-sufficiency in exciting, unfamiliar territory.
The competition includes the premier two-day-event (29 1/4 hours) and an optional one-day-event (10 3/4 hours).
The Shoalhaven NSW Ambulance teams also notched up some good performances, ranking third and tenth overall and were the first and third highest ranked teams in the NSW Ambulance Service category.
Following the sudden passing of SES Nowra Wilderness Group Team Leader Cliff Harris in 2014, the Bushwalkers Wilderness Rescue Squad last year unveiled the inaugural Cliff Harris Memorial Trophy for the best performing SES team in Navshield.
Mr Harris had an outstanding NavShield record walking in 18 consecutive Navshields, winning 17 awards for best in category and winning the overall event in 2008, 2009, and 2013.
The Best in SES category award is a fitting tribute to Mr Harris and to Nowra SES, and added a very special touch again to the completion of the 2016 event with Nowra SES again taking home the Cliff Harris Memorial Trophy for the second consecutive year.
