SLSNSW State Duty Officers
The SLSNSW State Duty Officer (SDO) is a Board-appointed role within SLSNSW that provides operational communication, command, coordination and external liaison to emergency services in response to incidents and joint emergency service operations within NSW. Notably, they coordinate activities with the Police Operations Centre.
The SDO receives notifications through SERS and contacts the relevant SLSNSW BDO to settle on a response. Once it is agreed that the SLSNSW Branch has the capability and resources to respond, the SDO continues in a (remote) support role while the SLSNSW BDO assumes the role as the SLS Forward Commander in support of the lead Agency Incident Controller.
The SDO is a paid professional when working in the SOC during daylight hours or a volunteer for after hours. On average, a volunteer SDO is expected to be available for at least four shifts per month. SDOs are required to be contactable and able to always fulfil the SDO function while on shift (as either ‘primary’ or ‘backup’ SDO). These shifts are normally 7.00 pm to 7.00 am.
The SLSNSW SDO is also supported by the SLSNSW Member Welfare Officer, NSW State Operations Manager, emergency call-out team members and SLSNSW SOC staff members. Refer to the Public Safety SOPs for more information.
SLSNSW Branch Duty Officers
SLSNSW Branch Duty Officers (BDO) provide invaluable local information concerning any critical incident within their branch, such as what assets are available, the prevailing weather conditions and advice on access to the incident site. They will usually attend the incident scene as the Forward Commander for all SLS assets and as Liaison Officer with the Combat Agency Incident Controller in charge of the incident.
The BDO in conjunction with the Branch Peer Support Officer (where available) will provide the names of attending members to the SOC who will share with the Member Wellbeing Team to follow up with the member with post incident support. Patrol Captains and SLS members are also encouraged to apply the principles of psychological first aid immediately after an incident to review the safety and wellbeing of their fellow members.
Another critical role of the BDO is to conduct a post-incident operational debrief with attending SLS volunteers, usually within 2–3 days following an incident. During this debrief, you can expect a BDO to:
- Ask for feedback to improve operations in similar future situations or incidents
- Gather documentation for the historical record or planning purposes
- Identify what happened and the causes and consequences
- Offer additional information about natural reactions to critical incidents and advice on critical incident stress management
- Refer members who require additional assistance with critical incident stress management to a mental health professional.