From Rescued to Rescuer
Marine Rescue Hawkesbury volunteer joins crew that saved her A camping trip in the Brisbane Water National Park ended with a multi-agency rescue on New Year’s Eve 2022 for Romy Hodgson, her friend,...
Thrown in at the deep end
Jackie Taffs is the Radio Base Coordinator and a Watch Officer at Marine Rescue Wooli in the Northern Rivers Region. A member since 2002, Jackie was named the MRNSW Officer of the Year in a Volunteer Capacity in the 2018 Rotary NSW Emergency Services Community Awards. This is her story, in her own words.
My Marine Rescue life began with a challenge 16 years ago. The challenges have gained momentum and the rewards have followed close behind.
Like many of us back then, I was thrown in at the deep end. Challenge number one came on my second duty: “This is a radio and that is a Mayday call for you to attend to. I’m crew, bye,” I was told. The challenge was quickly followed by reward number one when the missing divers were located and returned to their families.
It was obvious that for the preservation of others and for me, I needed to be trained. Coffs Harbour was the nearest well-established radio base for training support. That it was from the Royal Volunteer Coastal Patrol and I was from the NSW Volunteer Rescue Association was meaningless to me and to the Coffs Division Commander at that time. This training experience began the inter-unit training programs that former MR Ballina volunteer Meg Luckie and I facilitated for members of units in the Northern Rivers Region.
Radio is the shopfront of Marine Rescue NSW. With the establishment of the organisation in 2009, units were seeking training to unify and progress radio operations. In our region, we built up a support team of local qualified and experienced members with training expertise and implemented programs for Radio Operators, Watch Officers and Emergency Centre Personnel, as well as in Peer Group Support. MRNSW Headquarters training and IT staff, including Chris Butler and Florian Glajcar, headed north from Sydney to share their expertise in their fields.
As a member of the smallest Marine Rescue unit, covering a remote length of coastline from Red Rock to Brooms Head and with a permanent village population of 350, each Wooli member covers multiple roles both within the unit and the community. Cooperation with the Wooli State Emergency Service and Rural Fire Service and sharing facilities and skills are integral for our village to remain resilient.
Our unit assisted with the initial establishment of a First Responders group. Vital when our village is so far from any medical assistance, this group is trained to carry out primary first aid and also flood reconnaissance to assist the SES. In these ways, it’s been a privilege being able to contribute to the Wooli community and represent Marine Rescue NSW.
As a member of the Wooli unit, part of my role has been to provide 24/7 radio coverage for the area from a stand-by base in our home. The new Radio over Internet Protocol (RoIP) technology introduced to support small units such as Wooli now provides this coverage but the hours on call and keeping an ear tuned in have not changed. Contributing to Wooli and the safety of the boating community on the Northern Rivers as a radio operator, emergency worker in many fields and part of the boat licence team has given me many challenges and rewards. Providing critical incident support, for both members and casualties, is an ongoing challenge and interest.
It has been an honour to receive peer recognition for these experiences but the recognition is for all the Marine Rescue NSW personnel who put “service above self” and for their supportive families. Thank you to Rotary for acknowledging the services of emergency workers and facilitating these awards.
March 2018
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