When asked how much longer he’d stay on the crew, he replied “I’ll still be going there in my walking frame.” 

He worked at the Mercy Hospital when he was in his 20s and had attended accidents through a towing company.

Mr Adams said joining the rescue team was a natural extension of that work.

“We went to a lot of drownings in the earlier days, there were more car accidents and a lot of search and rescues around Mount Buffallo and Bright,” he said.

“One of the worst was the crash out at Gerogery, which is now the Five Mates Crossing.” 

Mr Adams also volunteered as a diver for about 18 years.

He has collected rescue data since 1969 and believed the Hume Freeway was responsible for a dramatic reduce in collisions.

He said one of the biggest changes was the equipment they used.

“It was all hand tools when I first started, there were no jaws of life,” Mr Adams said.

“Rescues would take a lot longer.

“Now I mostly go out and do the catering or barbecues at events.”

Mr Adams’ wife, Janette, said the call-outs had become “a way of life”.