Recently acknowledged by his more than 120 of his colleagues for his 40 years of invaluable service to the community, Volunteer Rescue Association’s Christopher Pearson, has now announced his retirement from the service.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The well-known Nambucca District VRA Captain told the Guardian the time had come to step back from the front line of emergency rescue and have some time for himself.
“I first joined the VRA in Warren … I was a founding member,” Chris said.
“Since then I’ve attended 480 fatalities, most of them motor vehicle accidents, but I’ve also seen my share of drownings, suicides and shootings.”
Chris came to the Nambucca Valley 30 years ago, a place he specifically chose because it has a VRA base. He has also served 20 years as president of the local association and the past six years as District Captain, plus been deputy regional coordinator for North Coast and a regional coordinator for Mid North Coast.
However not all his service has been in Australia – Christopher has also taken the opportunity to work with emergency services units in the United States, Canada and Europe.
“Something I really enjoyed was writing the protocols for foreign emergency service workers to fly in Canadian Rescue helicopters, which then saw me work with the STARS rescue helicopter based in Calgary, Canada as a logistics support aircrew member,” he said.
I’ve attended 480 fatalities, most of them motor vehicle accidents, but I’ve also seen my share of drownings, suicides and shootings
- Christopher Pearson
When it comes to the dramatic, the Grade 5 tornado that hit Joplin, Missouri, while Chris was in the US helping with the rehabilitation of New Orleans after Cyclone Katrina, is top of his list.
“I went there just after the tornado, the place was devastated and the death toll kept rising, it stopped at 141.
“I returned to Joplin for the first anniversary in 2012 and assisted in welfare and fundraising for the victims and then again in 2016 I did a follow up visit to victims I was working with. I’m hoping to get back there for the 10th anniversary in 2021.”
But Christopher’s reasons for retiring are more than age or fatigue:
“I’ve turned 65, so I feel the time is right … but unlike the paid services my 40 years leaves me with no pension or superannuation so I will be busy with my ‘day job’ (as a pyro-technician) for some years yet.
“If I had been paid the minimum wage all those years, my service to the community would be worth over $400,000 ... current wages for paid emergency service workers are running around $77k per year or about $3 million for my term of 40 years.
“When I joined the VRA, police and ambulance were the only paid emergency workers – everyone else was a volunteer, there was great camaraderie and high levels of cooperation that simply does not exist today.”
He said the advent of retainers in another service for members who were previously volunteers, had created “a toxic culture where government emergency services are hell bent on destroying the volunteer organisations”.
He offered the example of the VRA wanting to bring their name into line with other emergency services and changing to NSW Rescue.
“This was opposed by another service who threatened a long and costly court battle … as the VRA is community funded the idea was dropped, however within a short period of time that same government body reinvented itself to have ‘rescue’ in their title.
“It is for all these reasons that I feel it is time to turn my back on the community I have volunteered for in often traumatic incidents and have some ‘me’ time.”
Chris will hang up his uniform at 23:59 o’clock on November 30.
