Callum Cope was fresh out of school when he decided to volunteer for the SES.
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Seven-a-half years later and he is still part of the Orange unit and has seen and experienced things like he never would have imagined.
Mr Cope was part of a crew from the Central West that was sent to Lismore in March to assist with the floods that ravaged communities.
"I'd never seen the extent of a flooding event like that before," he said.
"We drove from Orange up to about Grafton and that's when we got blocked by floodwater and we couldn't get any further north."
From there, they were transported by helicopter from Grafton to Lismore, before they drove down to Ballina where they spent the next three days helping anyone they could.
"It was almost like an inland sea of murky, muddy flood water and we were inundated as far as the eye could see," Mr Cope said.
"There was a lot of people impacted up there and we conducted a lot of rescues, welfare checks and ensured that people were safe and well, even though most of their houses were flooded."
Balancing act
Balancing the rigors of volunteering with work and family can sometimes be difficult. But Mr Cope said there was an understanding within the SES of "do the best you can."
"I'm lucky enough that if something really urgent comes in, my boss would allow me to attend if my work can be covered. Other members have the same kind of arrangement with their bosses in their workplaces," he said.
"If I'm not able to attend because of work, that's alright as well. We go along the line of 'your work and your family come before SES' and if you can give some time outside of that, then that's happy days."
The Orange unit train every Monday night in an effort to refresh their skills, build knowledge and ensure they are always prepared to attend any kind of emergency that comes to hand.
In that sense, Mr Cope said most of the team's volunteers are available at all times, 365 days of the year.
"The majority of the SES work is attending flood and storm related jobs. We see a large range of impact to local communities and to the state," he added.
"We provide an emergency service to make sure that the areas where there have been incidents are made safe, whether it be a tree across the road, a house with a leaky roof, or if someone is stuck in flood waters and needs help. We try to provide a response to those jobs every day of the year."
Excited for more
And while the demands are high and the work crucial, Mr Cope gets plenty out of it on a personal level.
"It's opened up a lot of opportunities for me over the last seven-and-a-half years," he said.
"It's a good opportunity to give back to the community."
Those are just a few of the reasons why he would encourage anyone to sign up and give volunteering with the SES a shot.
"Being able to provide a response to the community that's in need is always a big draw card. There's that motivation to serve and give back to the community," Mr Cope said.
"Growing from that, there's a lot of personal development that you can do in the SES. All the training you do, they're a great personal developer and you can get some really cool skills. You can also go to some insane and amazing jobs and experience the state as well.
"Orange has a great bunch of volunteers and I'd encourage anyone who was looking to give back to the community, to take themselves out of their comfort zones and experience being a volunteer with the emergency service."
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