A big weekend for the Tuross Marine Rescue in Bermagui as Marine Rescue experts took to the water and the skies as part of a major capability exercise on the NSW Far South Coast. The Eurobodalla crews attended along with a multi service turnout that included Marine rescue, Surf Life Saving, Westpac Helicopters, AMSA, Water Police and other groups that all came together in a joint search and rescue scenario. In all the Bermagui Search and Rescue Exercise (SAREX) was designed to test all attending South East agencies’ marine search and rescue practices and coordination. 65 Marine Rescue NSW volunteers from the Alpine Lakes, Batemans Bay, Bermagui, Eden, Merimbula, Narooma and Tuross units were activated as part of a major joint-agency search and rescue scenario. The event also involved personnel and rescue assets from the Australian Maritime Safety Authority, NSW Police Force Marine Area Command, Surf Life Saving NSW and the Westpac Rescue Helicopter Service. The search party was looking for three men in a tinnie called ‘Silver Bullet”. Three supposed people (mannequins) were simulated as being in distress when their tinny capsized off-shore. The representative emergency response groups were tasked to find and recover these people.
Tuross Marine Rescue was tasked to search the shore line with both Marine Rescue jet skis and Life Saving RIBs and Jet skies.
The crews found their target on rocks and had to perform emergency resuscitation onboard whilst racing kilometres along the coast.
All three targets were found in the water by each of the searching groups. A great result and another perfect training exercise in the lead up to the busy summer season ahead.
The photo below is the Tuross boat reversing into their temporary berth in Bermagui with the Rescue helicopter in the back ground
