The Victoria State Emergency Service (VICSES) has called for the community to treat volunteers with respect following incidents of aggression towards VICSES units earlier this month.
In a statement, VICSES said an incident occurred when a volunteer crew from the Upper Yarra Unit was dispatched to deal with a large, dropped tree limb on a property at Warburton.
It said one of the property’s neighbours verbally abused and threatened the crew’s safety which led to the volunteers retreating to their truck and contacting the dispatch operator to request police assistance.
“Aggression against our volunteers is never acceptable and thankfully, still rare,” VICSES said.
“However, if you see our volunteers it because they have left the warmth of home to answer a call for help,” it said.
“They are good neighbours and remarkable people and, sometimes, the call they answer will be yours.”
VICSES said its volunteers went out of their way, often in severe weather, to help their community in times of crisis, so it was only right that they were supported and protected.
Psychologist at VICSES, Paul Fitzgerald said the recent incidents of aggression highlighted the range of different situations VICSES members found themselves in and there was no way to prepare for everything.
“That’s the high level of risk that our volunteers can occasionally find themselves in,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
“Remember, they’re a member of the community like you,” he said.
“They might wear orange in that moment, but otherwise they’re serving your meat at the butchers, doing your accounts or maybe even assisting your community as a police officer.”
Mr Fitzgerald called on people to have compassion and “see that we’re all made of the same stuff”.
