The Hawkesbury Canoe Classic (HCC), a renowned annual charity event, took place over the weekend of 8th and 9th of November, starting at Freemans Reach (Windsor) at 4:00pm and concluding at Mooney Mooney, 12-15 hours later.
WICEN NSW Inc operates as a specialist support squad of the Volunteer Rescue Association, providing recognition through the State Emergency and Rescue Management Act 1989 and the State Rescue Board.
Key objectives of WICEN are to provide: communications support for emergency services operating in areas where infrastructure has failed or in remote areas where there is no suitable communications infrastructure; communications support for community and charitable events needing communications networks beyond regular mobile phone services; and operators for emergency operations centres.
The event provides excellent radio training varying from portable setup to unrelenting radio traffic for hours on end.
An interesting anecdote highlights the importance of reliable communication systems — partway through the night, the SES marine communications went down during a blackout, while WICEN operators were totally oblivious as everything was running on battery supply, including four radios, a notebook, a second screen, a broadband hotspot, and lights.
It shows the value of having backup power, as used in the Mangrove Emergency Planning & Communications Committee (MEPCC) network.
Peter Boskos
