KALAMUNDA SES (State Emergency Service) volunteer Ronald Davey was awarded the Meritorious Service Award Emergency Services Medal at a recent ceremony at Government House, Perth.
The medal recognises Mr Davey’s 38 years of distinguished service as a member of an Australian emergency service.
A long-time Kalamunda resident, Mr Davey has been helping the community since 1978 with APEX in High Wycombe and graduated to SES in 1987.
He has attended many complex and protracted incidents over the years, including assisting in the 2014 search for missing Malaysian airliner MH370 off the WA coast.
A skilled leader and trainer and dual member of the Kalamunda SES Unit, he has also been heavily involved in expanding the Statewide Operational Response Division (SWORD) SES Logistics over the years.
Mr Davey said he got enormous satisfaction from assisting with bushfire support and storm damage repairs, as well as searches for people both in the air and on the ground, especially when the search was successful.
He also recalled the terrible Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe fires of November 2023.
“On a more positive note, the SES gives great camaraderie and a unique appreciation of what happens behind the scenes that not many people see,” Mr Davey said.
As an air search observer Mr Davey has built up a reputation as one of the best.
He took part in five sorties for MH370, about 2000km southwest of Perth looking for wreckage, as well as an air search in the Maldives about 8000km northwest of Perth via Christmas Island, looking for a Chinese fishing boat with 25 people on board.
“We carried out three days of ocean searching at 400 feet above sea level,” Mr Davey said.
He has also been involved in numerous callouts for storm damage, as well as land search and rescues (LandSAR) and helping with Cyclone Seroja in April 2021.
“In 2023 when a cyclone washed away the Fitzroy river bridge, SWORD SES Logistics deployed via road and with military aircraft to Broome and Derby for storm supplies and accommodation assistance,” he said.
On the future of volunteering, Mr Davey said WA used to have 2200 SES volunteers (over about 80 units) which slowly reduced to about 1800 at one stage and was now back up to 2100.
Mr Davey said people did not need any special skills and the SES train and equip all new people.
“Anyone can join, just ring your local unit.”
