Australian Rescue Podcast

In late December 2017, my three guests were called to an accident, as a car vs a tree. While, this is not unusual, what unfolded at the job is. My guests are Chris Rogers, Shane Price and Crispin O’Neil who, between them, have about 50 years of rescue experience. Along with about a dozen other first responders, they had the task of extricating a casualty who unfortunately remained trapped for over 2 hours. Inherently with the job of rescue we all know that on rare occasions, long jobs (although inevitable) are usually uncommon. This job was particularly difficult, drawn out and unusual; because the final avenue for a successful extrication was to undertake a controlled roll of the vehicle… with not just the casualty remaining pinned but also other personnel still inside. Strangely enough, it’s a job that didn’t receive any media attention, so consider this an exclusive. As mentioned, the primary rescue unit involved in this job is the Pakenham Road Rescue Unit, comprising of Pakenham SES and Nar Nar Goon CFA. Dandenong CFA also attended with their rescue appliance as well. Check out the photos and enjoy hearing this unique rescue experience!   Photos Source: Supplied Read more →

This episode we speak to a remarkable lifeguard Lachlan Lansdown, 22, who was awarded the Australian Surf Lifesaver’s rescue of the month, during late December 2017. Originally from Melbourne, Lansdown is World Paddleboard champion who works at Queensland’s Noosa beaches as a Life Guard, on standby to rescue those in need. In this episode he shares the story of how he was showing a new life saver around their patch during their first shift, when by chance he saw some swimmers caught in a rip and jokingly said “We may have a job here”. As it turned out, this happened to be a very serious situation where nearly half a dozen swimmers needed rescuing, with Lachlan bringing in an unconscious swimmer. This team effort by all involved is a story not to be missed. At just 14, Lachlan got his “surf rescue certificate” and started patrolling Noosa beach. At 15 he obtained his Bronze Medallion for surf life saving and volunteer patrols. At only the age of 18 did he became a paid professional lifeguard where he was based on the Northern Sunshine Coast. He also continued volunteer patrols, but at only 20 he was a “Patrol Captain” put charge of a patrol of 10 people. Our story picks up at the end of last season 2018 when he transferred to “Sunshine Beach Surf Life Saving Club”. Over Christmas he was rostered to work everyday as a professional lifeguard. His only day off was Christmas Eve. On Christmas Eve he was on a volunteer patrol at Sunshine beach when the incident happened. Regarding his paddleboard career, he is the holder of 6 gold medals from the ISA World Paddleboard Championship from events in Fiji, Mexico and Denmark, and is known as one of the best paddle boarders in the world at the moment. Photo Source This is not the first time that Lachlan has been in the newspapers for rescues. At the age of 15, himself and another friend pulled a woman from the water. Another job we mentioned during the podcast was one of Lachie’s first big rescue events with a car crash in the main street of Noosa. Rescue seems to run in the family. His father is Trevor Lansdown whom was interviewed on the Australian Rescue Podcast. Read more →

In 2011, Journalist and Director Harry Sanna was embedded with a Blackhawk medevac unit in Afghanistan. Living for several weeks with the unit, he captured unprecedented and unfiltered access to the rush and chaos of their mission. After the completion of their deployment, Sanna followed the team members home, recording their lives and thoughts in the years since their return with an intimacy and access only afforded to a member of the unit. This is an extraordinary interview, where Harry shares what it was like working with this medic unit and shares in more detail some of the things he saw and experienced, not only from the perspective of the medic unit, but also on a personal level as well. We touch on many different topics in this interview, ranging from the military, evacuations, PTSD, combat safety, and also what it’s like for veterans after they return. It’s a very different type of rescue, whereby we hear it from not only a journalist, but getting to hear about medical rescues in a combat situation. Movie Trailer Harry on “The Project”, as aired on Channel 10 on Feb 12, 2018 Another Interview Harry was also interviewed on the Medic2Medic Podcast for Episode 135. While we tried to focus more on Harry’s experiences and take-aways from his time in the medevac unit, in this other interview you’ll hear a different side and learn more about the movie of how it came to be and some other back stories, where Producer Ryan Cumminham and Director Harry give different insights. It’s also worth listening to as well. Listen to the audio Hear other episodes at themedic2medicpodcast You can purchase the film at major movie distributors, like iTunes and Amazon or at the website. https://trauma.film/   https://www.facebook.com/traumadocumentary/ It’s a great interview in this episode of the Australian Rescue Podcast and we hope you like it. Read more →

People were going about their normal everyday lives, heading in to the city from the Blue Mountains, on their way to Sydney when disaster struck. Unknown to all those involved, this was never going to be a normal day, a day that would have lasting consequences. 41 years ago today, on January 18th 1977, the Granville Train Disaster happened, killing 83 and injuring 213.   Last time on the Australian Rescue Podcast, we didn’t have enough time to hear all of Gary Raymond‘s story. In this episode we continue his story and memories from the Granville Train Disaster. If you missed part one, go back and have a listen to it first for some good background. In this episode we’ll hear more info about what the conditions of the search and also a real fascinating insight in to what it’s like catching up with survivors. One of people in the story Gary connected with was Debbie, and you can read more about her story here.   As per the last episode, Gary shares even more of his Christian faith, but as per the previous episode, but as mentioned in the first part of this interview it’s Gary’s story so it’s important to leave it in there, given the fact that he’s also a Chaplain as well. Even though Gary is very busy, he’s also a Chaplain and therefore has all the time in the world if you need.   If you’d like to contact him, you can do so at his Facebook page via a direct message. Gary has been to these significant jobs in the past: • Hilton Hotel Terrorist Bombing – 3 dead & 7 wounded • Luna Park Ghost Train Fire – 6 children and 1 adult dead • Granville Train Disaster – 83 dead & 213 injured • Christmas Day Savoy Hotel Fire, Kings Cross – 15 dead • Pacific Heights Nursing Home Fire – 16 dead • Newcastle Earthquake –13 dead & 162 injured & 500,000 buildings damaged • Sri Lankan Tsunami – 35,000 dead, 1 million homeless • Cyclone Larry in North Queensland – winds 200 kph – damage 1 billion dollars • Thredbo Landslide Disaster – 18 dead – Stewart Diver rescued • 1140 ton Manly ferry the ‘Collaroy’ ran aground and collided with cliff – 4 injured & 500 rescued from ferry • Earthquake – Christchurch, New Zealand – 185 dead – 1500 injured As Gary has been to so many jobs, do you have a favourite you’d like to hear from specifically? If you’ve enjoyed hearing these stories from Gary, you can read more stories in a series of books called “Top Cop” that were written by David Nicholas. These can all be purchased from good book stores. These images are linked to the products directly.           Read more →

There are big plans for this podcast, and the first episode is due in early 2018. Hopefully you’ll keep in touch and follow us for new episodes as we talk to various rescuers all over Australia. The first couple of episodes of the Australia Rescue Podcast will feature an absolute bumper of a story, where we’ll be hearing from Chief Inspector Gary Raymond APM, OAM (Ret’d.) Dip.VET, an officer in the Sydney Police Rescue squad who attended the Granville Train Disaster 41 years ago. We will be hearing insights into the job like we’ve never heard before and some incredible stories of survival as a result of that job and how his life has gone from there. Gary has a gift for story telling as as such, it’s going to be in two parts, because I couldn’t fit everything in to one show! Here is a quick snippet of the interview of what you can expect. Keep this site bookmarked and keep checking back for new episodes. Read more →