The Governor of Victoria, the Honourable Linda Dessau AC visited the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority\u2019s Ballarat centre last week.<\/p>\n
As Patron of the 10-Year Anniversary of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires, the Governor is visiting bushfire affected communities to hear about their challenges and help celebrate their achievements in recovery.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m here to learn as much as I can, see as much as I can and thank as much as I can,\u201d said Governor Dessau.<\/p>\n
The Governor visited Narbethong, Marysville, Toolangi, King Lake and Flowerdale in the days prior to coming to Ballarat.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile the ESTA centre in Ballarat is not a bushfire affected community, it was heavily involved in the handling of the emergency calls during that time,\u201d said Anthony Rasmussen, executive manager of operations at the Ballarat centre.<\/p>\n
Mr Rasmussen and Marty Smyth, ESTA\u2019s CEO escorted the Governor and her husband, Anthony Howard QC, on a tour of the facility explaining the services provided and the types of calls handled.<\/p>\n
Governor Dessau sat in and listened to an operator answer real-time triple zero calls during her visit.<\/p>\n
\u201cTriple zero operators deserve thanks for the work they did during that time [2009 Victorian bushfires] and what they do every day,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201c[The operators] are calm and organised, I\u2019m very impressed at how well ESTA looks after its people giving them the help they need in this challenging environment.\u201d<\/p>\n
ESTA provides the critical link between the Victorian community and the state\u2019s emergency services agencies.<\/p>\n
It provides Victoria\u2019s 24-hour emergency call-taking and dispatch services for police, fire, ambulance and VICSES.<\/p>\n
In 2017-18, 2,570,282 calls were answered representing a call every 12 seconds or more than 7000 a day.<\/p>\n
February 2019 marks the 10-year anniversary of Black Saturday and the 2009 Victorian Bushfires when tragically, 173 people lost their lives in the fires.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Governor of Victoria, the Honourable Linda Dessau AC visited the Emergency Services Telecommunications Authority\u2019s Ballarat centre last week. As Patron of the 10-Year Anniversary of the 2009 Victorian Bushfires, the Governor is visiting bushfire affected communities to hear about their challenges and help celebrate their achievements in recovery. \u201cI\u2019m here to learn as much […]<\/p>\n