Debra Scanes ESM, who commutes from Goulburn to train with the Binalong squad in rescue techniques and equipment, was selected from four finalists at a Sydney gala dinner on June 1.

The 2018 ACT & NSW Emergency Service Community (ESC) Awards are a Rotary initiative to acknowledge outstanding community service by the region’s emergency services members.

The NSW Volunteer Rescue Association offers primary responders for road crash, land or vertical rescue, and can include aerial and ski patrols, caving, bush search and First Aid teams.

This year, the association had offered up four finalists from NSW, including Ms Scanes, Geoffrey Dawe of Mudgee, Alan Johnson of Taree, and John Wraight of Brunswick Heads.

Ms Scanes’ daughter Rachel attended the special evening and shared the moment with her mother.

“Family support for those in the emergency services is important. Members could not do what they do without it,” Ms Scanes said.

Her time with the Binalong squad has included assisting at the 1997 Thredbo landslip, the 2003 Canberra firestorm, the 2012 Jugiong floods, and the 2013 Cobbler Road fires, to name just a few.

She is on standby to render First Aid at the Binalong Brahams’ home games, and has helped lobby for local amenities such as improved mobile service and a permanent local police officer.

“Members don’t do what they do for recognition. They just do what they do to help others and their communities,” Ms Scanes said.