The NSW Police Rescue Squad celebrates 75 years of saving lives

FROM major disasters to toes stuck in bath taps, it takes a special breed to survive life working for the elite Police Rescue Squad.  "The words ‘no, we can’t’ do not exist. If we can’t do it, who will?"

FOR Gary Raymond, it’s the silence that still haunts him.

In more than a decade on the Police Rescue Squad, the former senior constable was on the front line at some of New South Wales’ worst mass casualty disasters — the Hilton hotel bombing in 1978, the Luna Park ghost train fire in 1979 and the Newcastle earthquake in 1989.

The one that stays with him however is the Granville train crash in 1977.

A commuter train derailed, smashing into a bridge support, bringing the bridge down on to two of the carriages. There were 83 people killed and another 213 injured. The smells, sights and sounds of that horrific day have never left Mr Raymond but it is the silence that has left the deepest scar.

Gary Raymond was a young member of the Police Rescue Squad when he responded to the Granville train derailment and bridge collapse. Picture: Justin Sanson

Rescuers in the Newcastle Workers Club which collapsed during an earthquake in 1989. Picture: Supplied

“When you go in, there is silence and it means people have lost their lives. Those memories are tattooed in your mind and still leave a very deep sadness,” the now retired 66-year-old said.

Mr Raymond, who performed 1500 rescues during his career, is just one of the heroic men and women who have served with the Police Rescue Squad, which for 75 years has been called in to the state’s biggest tragedies and disasters, often battling high-risk and dangerous conditions to rescue life and limb.

An elite band of specialised officers, they wear their can-do bravery as a badge of honour.

Commander Brenton Charlton said all the squad’s 150-plus members need a mix of resilience, fitness and calmness but above all must have mental aptitude.

Police rescue officers pulling a boy out of a storm water drain, in western Sydney in the late 1970s. Picture: Supplied

Police Rescue Operators Cindy Milton and Shannon Smith. Picture: Supplied

“In other words, the ability to problem solve because the words ‘no, we can’t’ do not exist. If we can’t do it, who will? We need perfect operators and problem solvers,” he said.

Would-be squad members must have been on the force for three years and are put through a rigorous three-day selection process.

“We test phobias like heights, depths and confined spaces, we test everyone’s phobias to the max because we can’t have people freezing 200 metres up,” he said.

To celebrate 75 years of service, the squad has opened up its picture archives, showing some of the amazing rescues they have performed, often with very basic equipment, and some of the horrible tragedies they have done their best to alleviate.

Harry Ware was commissioned to help in cliff rescues. Picture: Supplied

Cliff rescues were very low tech back in the day. Pictured is Ware assisting in removing a body from the bottom of the cliffs. Picture: Supplied

Formed in 1942 after a spate of suicides led to the grim realisation that a specialist cliff rescue team was needed, the squad has completely transformed from those days when Harbour Bridge rigger Harry Ware was commissioned to become a special constable to help in cliff rescues.

Today cliff rescues are still common but the squad are now highly-trained abseilers with sophisticated equipment.

Police rescuer helps a child who has his finger stuck in the bath plug hole. These were common in the 1970s. Picture: Supplied

They are also the primary bomb response team and a large bulk of their work is attending motor vehicle accidents. Using the jaws of life, they extricate men, women, frightened and injured children from their twisted metal prisons without further injury.

Many don’t make it.

Sadly, suicides are still a mainstay of the squad.

Car accidents were the bulk of the rescue operations. Picture: Supplied

Recovering a body from a lake. Picture: Supplied

Amid the trauma, there are the light relief rescues with what is known as ‘the finger kit’, which is used to extricate fingers out of plug and sink holes.

One fond memory of a young Constable Raymond is of the beautiful young model who got her toe stuck in the bath tap while trying to plug a cold drip as she lay back in the tub.

“That was a tough job,” he said.

Originally published as The NSW Police Rescue Squad celebrates 75 years of saving lives