Services and Events

We provide various community services and initiatives in support of preparedness, survival or emergency response. Our community efforts are many and varied, with involvement undertaken by volunteer members, dedicating their spare time setting up community prepping and survival programs or emergency response provisions. Our programs include:

• Civil Emergency Response Volunteers (C.E.R.V)

Engaging individuals in volunteer activities that support professional first responders, disaster relief groups, and general community safety.

Towns and cities will need to analyse which natural disaster types pose the biggest threat to their community, and create a response training program to educate C.E.R.V members.

Failure to prepare for natural disasters accordingly could result in the destruction of residential and public infrastructure, a drastic number of preventable deaths, and an inadequate emergency response and recovery roll-out. C.E.R.V can drastically increase your community's preparedness level by educating community members and working in the field in the event of a disaster.

Members undergo training that equips them with basic disaster response skills such as team organisation, disaster medical operations and or first aid, fire safety, and light search and rescue. In a real disaster, members are taught to apply this training to their homes, and then their surrounding neighbourhoods.

As a community organisation, we wanted to improve on available services, by having instant response available, directly in the local area. This was organised as the result of a Royal Commission into Natural Disaster Arrangements which was undertaken and how it could improve. It inspired our people to take appropriate action. Please see the royal commission report here.

This is on top of a major Storm event in the Municipality of Yarra Ranges in Victoria, where the emergency response was delayed and recovery difficult for many. See this report here.  These kinds of natural disasters could occur anywhere in the country.

During a large incident, members self activate to support response or recovery activities in their local area. Members are not expected to act as professional responders, but to serve as help until the emergency services arrive. (If emergency services never arrive, it is continued, until they do). Vetted and trained members can be tasked with functions that will assist local and wider community. Outside of disasters and emergencies, members are encouraged to engage the community with disaster preparedness training, support local events, and complete A.P.S.L academy training units, to build on their skills. Further to this, members also participate in a range of measures that make their families, homes, and community safe from the threats of crime, terrorism, and environmental damage.

Civil Emergency Response Volunteers also engage in low level Mutual Assistance Response, which involve simple local activities such as reporting dangerous issues to local government, lighting outages, public facility issues and defects, lost property recovery, pet responses and anything else that fits the hospice of a good local community lookout/help. All whilst ensuring safety for themselves first.

• Amateur Radio and C.B Radio communication operations and broadcasts

We utilise radio equipment in circumstances that warrant it, whilst practicing our skills and participating in training exercises. We also run broadcasts to keep people notified of our operations, events and emergencies.

• Special events

We exhibit or organise special events, allowing the members to represent our organisation and get involved in the larger community with demonstrations of prepping and survivability, as well as running public training seminars. Some of the exhibits which we attend:

• Prepping and Survival Exhibitions.
• Off Grid Festival.
• Amateur Radio Events.
• Australia Day exhibits.
• Various Country Show exhibits.
• Emergency Services Exhibits.
• Fire preparedness days held by various fire services across Australia.

• Free Training

Our volunteer members are proud to deliver free survival training and other very important training courses, to help ensure survival of as many persons as possible. This is one of our purposes that we are proud to deliver. Hundreds of people are being trained every year, with an ever growing number at public events. Please see our training details page for further information.

• Meet Ups

From time to time, members have an opportunity to meet up with other members to discuss all things prepping and survival.  It offers a great opportunity for members to connect with others.