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Red Cross continues to assist at Kerang train crash site
6 June 2007
Red Cross volunteers have provided breakfast for up to 100 emergency services personnel at the site of the Kerang train crash, as they continue the grim task of searching for missing passengers. Red Cross first aid volunteers are also on site to proivde immediate assistance to any emergency personnel injured as they search through the shatterd glass and twisted metal left behind when the semi-trailer collided with the V-line passenger train near Kerang yesterday.
On ABC radio this morning, the Red Cross effort was described by Alan Briggs, spokesperon for the SES, as 'the glue that is keeping the whole thing together', after swinging into action yesterday at the request of the Gannawarra Shire Council.
Yesterday volunteers were active in the following areas:
Emergency First Aid
Emergency Catering (providing meals for emergency services personnel at the site of the crash, and also at the relief centre at the Kerang town hall),
Emergency Registration (registering passengers at the Kerang town hall)
Personal Support (emotional and practical help at the Kerang town hall)
Red Cross Emergency Services Regional Co-ordinator Graham Etherton has been working on the ground at the scene of the accident and said that Red Cross volunteers and staff have travelled from Bendigo, Swan Hill and the surrounding area to assist.
'The emergency plan operating smoothly, with Red Cross volunteers working hand in hand with the emergency services; it's what Red Cross is all about,' said Graham. 'Extensive training has prepared us for this type of emergency.'
Red Cross has a long history, both internationally and locally, of assisting people affected by emergencies.
During the bushfires earlier this year, the Australian Red Cross emergency effort ran 24 hours a day.
Media enquiries
Laurelle Keough
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0407 514 192
Alice Crowley
Marketing and Communications Officer
0409 440 344
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