History
In 2004 Bayswater Fire Brigade developed a unique training initiative called Control Line. This event was originally established as an informal local incident management workshop, but quickly developed into a broader emergency management seminar that would focus on the complex elements of managing major emergencies.
Bayswater Fire Brigade developed a mission statement that identified the values and purpose of Control Line; Strengthening Relations and Sharing Experiences. Experienced incident managers and emergency service leaders were invited to present their views on major incident management. Participants benefited from the various case studies, presentations, and expressed expectations of incident managers from emergency services leaders.
A further objective of Control Line was to include younger, less experienced members of the emergency services who would be our leaders of the future. The Seminars provided these members with an insight into the scope and complexity of major incident management.
In 2008 the Brigade expanded the Control Line concept to include incident management Master Classes and both national and international presenters. The Master Classes were one day workshops designed to challenge participants to perform at the strategic level of incident management required for major emergencies.
Control Line 2008 was attended by over 200 people from emergency service leaders to volunteers, and included government, non government and emergency services from across Australia.
Due to the success of Control Line 2008, the Brigade again hosted a masterclass in 2009 that focused on exploring the components of managing major emergencies. Control Line 2009 was lead by key note speaker William Carwile whose extensive experience in leading the response and recovery to disasters has involved devastating typhoons, hurricanes, tropical storms, wildfires and the New York City World Trade Centre response.
Into the future, Bayswater Fire Brigade aims to continue to provide an invaluable opportunity for emergency management personnel to come together, share experiences, and prepare for the challenging assignment of incident management.