CROSS-border anomalies prevented the Albury and Border Rescue Squad joining the rescue of a man injured on Mount Buffalo, deputy captain Paul Marshall said yesterday.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The squad, which is part of the NSW Volunteer Rescue Association, has six members trained in vertical rescue.
But Mr Marshall said because the organisation was based in NSW, it “wasn’t on the radar” during the rescue.
“There are a lot of cross-border anomalies with all the emergency services,” he said.
“Breaking those down and having a broader knowledge base would benefit everybody. We need to open those lines.”
The squad has a system to lower rescuers down cliffs and haul people out.
Mr Marshall did not know whether the system would have helped at Mount Buffalo but said it hadn’t been considered.
“Being based in NSW, we just don’t have that line of communication,” he said.
“We don’t say we’re better at this sort of thing, it’s just a system that could have been used that wasn’t considered.”
The Mount Beauty and Wangaratta CFA brigades were equipped with similar rescue equipment, Mr Marshall said.
He said he had no concerns with Victoria Police but with lines of communication and resource-sharing between services, especially when it involved state borders.
His group has not been involved in similar rescues in Victoria, but has helped when drownings and river rescues were involved.
