Heathcote Unit
Victoria State Emergency Service

If You Are Experiencing an Emergency

For Life Threatening Emergencies: Call 000

For Storm & Flood Emergencies: Call 132 500

Backed by over 250 years of experience

Emergency Response for the Heathcote District

Since 1985, the volunteers of the VICSES Heathcote Unit have been supporting our community 24 hours a day, 365 days a year

Our volunteers provide emergency response for road accidents, storm & flood incidents, and assistance to our partner agencies, including Victoria Police, Country Fire Authority, Ambulance Victoria, Australian Volunteer Coast Guard and the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

Our goals are to help people in need, to minimise the impact of emergencies and to strengthen the community’s capacity to plan, respond and recover, when emergencies occur.

Our volunteer members are highly skilled, well equipped, and comprehensively trained in a wide range of emergency situations and environments.

When Should You Contact the SES?

Life Threatening Emergencies

If you are experiencing or have witnessed a life threatening emergency, call 000 ("triple zero") immediately and the appropriate services will be dispatched to you.

Life threatening emergencies are any situation where you think someone is in danger of serious injury - such as vehicle accidents, farm accidents, industrial accidents, persons having difficulty in water, people trapped at heights or otherwise.

If you're unsure whether an emergency is life threating or not, call 000

Storm & Flood Damage

SES is the emergency service responsible for responding to storm damage incidents, including trees fallen across roads or on buildings, flooding, and building damage due to high winds.

Please remember we are an emergency service and therefore the issue you face should be an emergency. For example a tree fallen in a paddock is not an emergency. However if it has fallen across a fence and there is danger of stock escaping onto a highway, it would be appropriate to call us if you're unable to remove the tree from the fence in a timely manner.

Where possible, we will perform temporary repairs or asset protection but there may be cases where specialist trades will be required. That would be the responsibility of your insurance company or yourself to arrange.

FAQ

Who should I call in a life-threatening emergency?

Always call 000 ("triple zero") in any life-threatening emergency situation

Are SES members paid?

All SES volunteers are exactly that - people who volunteer their time to help their community. Therefore, we are not paid.

The Victoria SES has approximately 150 paid staff who work at our various headquarters around the state.

Can anybody become a SES volunteer?

Yes! There are roles for people with all ranges of skills, all ages (18 and above) and all backgrounds. We provide a comprehensive training program to all new volunteers which assumes you have none of the skills required, but accommodates you if you already do.

I’d like to volunteer - what do I need to do?

Click on this link https://www.ses.vic.gov.au/join-us/volunteer and fill in your details. This will place you on our list and we will contact you to let you know the next steps.

Are volunteers expected to leave their workplace at a moment's notice if called out?

No. We are all volunteers and so are not expected to leave our workplace during work hours. Some employers very generously allow volunteers to leave in some cases but this isn't expected.

What are the training expectations?

We train every Thursday night except for when we take a break over the Christmas holiday period. Volunteers are expected to attend 60% of these training nights in order to remain operational.

In addition to this, there are many other training courses for more advanced skills if you are interested in doing them. Such as Road Crash Rescue, chainsaw, working at heights, swift water rescue, etc, etc. These are optional and are usually held on weekends.