The State Emergency Service will run flood rescue training operations with Marine Rescue on Saturday.
Staged across NSW, including here in the Hunter, the exercise will put crews and vessels from the Newcastle, Lemon Tree Passage and Lake Macquarie units through their paces.
The joint training activity comes as Marine Rescue beefs up its capabilities to assist other agencies during significant emergencies, which was a recommendation to come out of the 2022 NSW Flood Inquiry.
Marine Rescue NSW General Manager Training and Capability Brad Whittaker said 21 Marine Rescue NSW vessels will be involved in Saturday’s exercise.
“It is a great opportunity for Marine Rescue NSW to work with other rescue agencies, specifically the SES in the flood rescue space and one of our targets is to improve our overall capability to support a state-wide uptake in flood rescue capability.
“It is vitally important for rescue agencies to work together and participate in coordinated training.
“That is the best way that we will be able to save lives during a real state-wide emergency.
“This is a great opportunity without the pressure of a real rescue situation to test ourselves out, to develop our skills and to most importantly find ways where we can work together smoothly and efficiently,” Mr Whittaker said.