The drum : the Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services magazine
Northern Territory Police, Fire and Emergency Services
The Drum; E-Journals; PublicationNT
2009-08
This publication contains may contain links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.; Made available via the Publications (Legal Deposit) Act 2004 (NT).
Date:2009-08
English
Northern Territory Police, Fire And Emergency Services; Periodicals; Police; Northern Territory; Periodicals
Northern Territory Government
Winnellie
Attribution International 4.0 (CC BY 4.0)
Northern Territory Government
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/216683
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/709118
16 | The DRUM Magazine | August 2009 NT Fire Brigade Recruits cheer as fireman Paul Rubie and Precision Motorcycles Darren Clement give Joshua Smith his fixed bike. I recently attended the Emergency Media and Public Affairs Conference that was held at the RACV Club, Bourke Street, Melbourne. It was made up of an impressive bunch of people from all different backgrounds and agencies, all sharing knowledge and information about emergency management during the recent Black Saturday bushfires in Victoria. Although there were numerous brilliant speakers throughout the conference, the highlight for me was definitely Bruce Esplin, the Commissioner of Emergency Services in Victoria. He spoke about the Victorian bushfires, namely Black Saturday from a Victorians perspective. He spoke of wanting to harness the community spirit which now exists in those devastated communities and building that community spirit into other communities throughout the country. He also explained that many Police Media Units across the country are now utilising new media, such as text messages, Facebook, Twitter and other blog sites to get important messages and broadcasts across. Did you know that on the night before Black Saturday, 35 million text messages were sent out within a three hour period, 80% checked the message and 97% valued the information that was received. Throughout the fires, there was a 1000% increase in visits to fire related websites within Australia and one trillion hits to news websites. The ideas have been taken on board by the NTPFES Media and Corporate Communications Unit who are considering similar techniques for both everyday business and emergecny broadcasts A World of New Media Amy Sloan While most of us know it as the 25th of December, nine year old Joshua Smith celebrated his Christmas on the 28th of May with our Fire and Rescue Service personnel. When Joshua woke up on Christmas Day last year it was to find out his Christmas present a Motovert mini bike had been stolen. Police investigated and got the bike back but it was badly damaged. Josh couldnt afford the repairs so he went out washing cars, doing chores and fixing the neighbours yards to raise money to fix his bike. But, when the Palmerston boy saw our NT Firies and Firie volunteers out fundraising for the Victorian Bushfire Appeal at Oasis Shopping Centre, Joshua did what most normal kids wouldnt even consider doing he handed over all the money hed saved (a few hundred dollars) to our Firies. Josh said he was upset about his bike but he knew there were people worse off than him. I gave all of my money to the firefighters because I knew it would help all of those poor people in Victoria. They needed it more than me, he said. Touched by his generosity, our Fire and Rescue Service Crews came to the rescue. They collected donations from PFES employees and organised through the mechanical workshop and Precision Motorcycles to have the bike fixed. NTFRS community Education Officer, Paul Rubie said Joshs act is just one example of the kindness that Territorians showed after the devastating Victorian Bushfires. Just shaking a bucket the weekend that Josh donated his money raised more than $10,000 which shows we have a very caring, giving community that came to aid when it was needed. Fixing Joshs bike and providing him with a $500 voucher to buy a helmet and safety gear is just one way that NTFRS can say thank you and give back to the community who have been so supportive of us, he said. When presented with the voucher from Precision Motorcycles, Joshs mum wiped away tears of joy as she watched her sons face light up as he sat on top of his new bike for the first time. It was a pretty bad Christmas for us, so for this to happen and the Fire and Rescue Service to be so wonderful is just fantastic, she said. Not only has Josh got his bike back, his dad returned from his 9 month Defence Service in mid June. While his smile said it all, Josh just had one thing to say to our Firies and everyone that made this day so special for him THANKS. THIS IS GREAT! Josh Celebrates Christmas in May