Horse rescued by emergency services in Hinton

BY JARROD MELMETH

A horse has been rescued by emergency services overnight in Hinton, near Morpeth, after becoming trapped against trees.

24-year-old Franklin, had slipped on mud and slid backwards down a slope where he became trapped against tress and branches.

A vet was called to the scene who safely sedated Franklin while an extrication plan was developed to get the horse free.  

Chainsaw operators were brought in to remove surrounding lantana bushes as crews got to work arranging straps, slides and skids as part of the SES's Large Animal Rescue Operations.

The slide was positioned beneath Franklin who was heavily sedated at this point. SES and NSW Rural Fire Service crews then worked together to move the 1/2 tonne horse onto the slide using ropes. Once on the slide, the slide was winched down the slope and onto the grassed area of the paddock.

The on-site vet then checked over Franklin before he was reunited with his owner.

Pictured: SES and RFS crews rescuing Franklin.
Image: SES Port Stephens

Works To Expand John Hunter's Emergency Department Brought Forward To Begin Next Week

BY KEELY JOHNSON 

Construction work on the John Hunter Hospital Emergency Department has been fast-tracked to begin next week, with an additional 12 beds and new procedure room to provided. 

The  works are expected to take 2 months to complete and aim to ensure the hospital is prepared to deal with an expected spike in patients due to the flu, coming into the Winter months, and Covid-19. 

Hunter New England Chief Executive, Michael DiRienzo is welcoming the additional capacity.

“The additional beds and procedure room will be segregated from the current Department.  We are planning to use this for the treatment of paediatric patients and allow the existing ED more options and beds for managing expected surge with winter and COVID-19 response.”

“One of the key benefits to these works is that they are able to be completed without any operational impact to the existing ED,” Mr DiRienzo said.

Parliamentary Secretary for the Hunter, Catherine Cusack has welcomed the project being brought forward.

"John Hunter Hospital is one of the most important hospitals in Australia, it already has the busiest emergency departments in the State... and bringing forward the Emergency Department work will see an increase in capacity up to 40%, in response to the current health emergency," she said. 

"It will involve improving procedures, improving out and in patient services, and improving internal operations. So it's not just an increase in ED capacity, it's a significant increase in productivity and a very significant improvement in the quality of work place, for staff and patients."

The project,  part of John Hunter's $780 million Health and Innovation Precinct project is also set to  boost the local economy and provide work in a 'critical time' as the Hunter faces an economic crisis and severe job loss. 

"The record infrastructure investment program is critical to maintaining employment and people's well-being across the state... this infrastructure spend is incredibly well timed to not only give construction workers employment but will keep the economy running" said Catherine Cusack. 

The NSW Government’s $780 million John Hunter Health and Innovation Precinct will also deliver improvements to clinical services and facilities including a new expanded ED, critical care services including in operating theatres and intensive care, increased interventional and imaging services, expanded inpatient units and enhanced ambulatory care services.

John Hunter Hospital Main Entrance.

EMERGENCY Fire on Masonite Road, Tomago downgraded to ADVICE LEVEL

BY JESSICA ROUSE

UPDATE: 8PM

The bushfire at Tomago has been downgraded to ADVICE level.

Fire crews will remain on the ground overnight to monitor the blaze and keep it under control.

The Rural Fire Service's advice to residents is to continue to monitor the situation and have your Bush Fire Survival Plan ready in case you need it.

Fire crews may conduct back burning on the fire ground if conditions allow.

All roads are now open.

UPDATE 6:30PM

The bushfire burning at Tomago has now been downgraded to WATCH AND ACT.

Conditions are starting to ease on the fire ground thanks to some light rain, a southerly change is expected to roll through at around 7pm.

The blaze is now nearly 1400 hectares in size and is still burning OUT OF CONTROL.

"There is about 115 fire fighters with the Rural Fire Service assisted by National Parks and Wildlife Service along with Fire and ResceunSW and our dedicated fire fighters have been assisted by our water bombing aircraft including our very large air tanker Nancy Bird and our other air tankers as well," said Greg Allen from the Rural Fire Service.

Residents on the south eastern side of Raymond Terrace and those in the area of Campvale, are advised to continue to monitor the situation and take advice from firefighters on the ground.

Residents in Barry Close, Cabbage Tree Rd and Massonite Rd and areas close to Newcastle Airport along Williamtown Drive, Technology Place, Kindler Way, Cresswell Way, Slades Road, Sandeman Street and Moxey Close should also continue to monitor the situation and take advice from firefighters on the ground.

"We advise all residents close to the area of the fire and also right across the state to know your bushfire survival plan, have it made, have it discussed with your family and household so that in the event that a fire does threaten you know exactly wqhat you'll be doing," said Greg Allen from the Rural Fire Service.

Watch & Act: Masonite Rd fire, Tomago. Conditions have eased across the fireground. Residents on the SE side of Raymond Terrace & in the area of Campvale advised to monitor situation & take advice from firefighters in the area. More information: https://t.co/HhU6p2U20A #NSWRFS

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 13, 2018

UPDATE: 4:30PM

A strong southerly change has now moved across the bushfire. It's now moving in a northerly direction away from Cabbage Tree Road and towards Richardson Road.

Residents in the area of Richardson Road, Campvale are being advised to seek shelter as the fire approaches.

All flights are delayed out of Newcastle airport - the Williamtown airport has closed its airfield to all flights until further notice.

Passengers are being advised to follow the advice of local authorities.

UPDATE 4:15PM

A bushfire continues to burn OUT OF CONTROL on Masonite Road being pushed further outside of containment lines by westerly winds.

Residents in Barry Close, Cabbage Tree Rd and Massonite Rd and areas close to Newcastle Airport along Williamtown Drive, Technology Place, Kindler Way, Cresswell Way, Slades Road, Sandeman Street and Moxey Close are advised to shelter in place as it is to late to leave.

NSW Rural Fire Service crews are being assisted by NSW Fire and Rescue. Crews are being assisted by the large waterbombing aircraft 'Nancy Bird'.

There are several road closures in place as well which could change at any time. At this stage Cabbage Tree Road is closed between Masonite Road and Nelson Bay Road. For the latest road closures head to: https://www.livetraffic.com/desktop.html

A southerly change is forecast for this afternoon which should help crews on teh ground get the fire under control.

For the latest information on the fire: https://www.rfs.nsw.gov.au/fire-information/fires-near-me

Advice as of 4:15pm from NSW RFS:

Residents in the area of Richardson Road, Campvale are advised to seek shelter as the fire approaches.

Residents in Barry Close, Cabbage Tree Rd and Massonite Rd and areas close to Newcastle Airport along Williamtown Drive, Technology Place, Kindler Way, Cresswell Way, Slades Road, Sandeman Street and Moxey Close should continue to monitor the situation and take advise from firefighters on the ground

Check and follow your Bush Fire Survival Plan and prepare for a bush fire in your area.

If your plan is to leave, or you are not prepared, leave early.

Well prepared and actively defended homes can offer safety during the fire.

Emergency Warning– Masonite Road, Tomago: Fire burning near Masonite Rd, approx 10km N of Newcastle. Fire moving in E direction towards Newcastle Airport. Sth'ly wind change in area soon. Residents should monitor conditions & take advice from firefighters #NSWRFS pic.twitter.com/mny0xRmZcY

— NSW RFS (@NSWRFS) January 13, 2018

Triple 000 Emergency Benchmarks Not Being Met by Police

BY SARAH JAMES

A shortage of officers in the Newcastle Local Area Command has resulted in police failing to meet a benchmark response time of 12 minutes in nearly 25% of emergency calls.

Despite the number of calls for police assistance falling in recent years, the performance target of 80 per cent of calls responded to within 12 minutes has not be reached in the past three years.

State Member for Wallsend, Sonia Hornery, is calling on the NSW Government to allocate more resources to the Newcastle Command to help resolve this issue.

"I have repeatedly called on the Government to provide more police to the local area. Across the state, an extra 247 officers are needed each year just to keep pace with growth," she said.

"These delays could cost lives. NSW Police do the best they can with limited resources and it doesn't help when no new officers are allocated to the Local Area Command."

Wallsend MP Sonia Hornery 

Emergency Plus App Launches In Time for Christmas

BY TANYA DU PREEZ

Fire & Rescue NSW is urging the community to download the free Emergency+ smartphone app before going on holidays during the Christmas period.

Deputy Commissioner Jim Hamilton said that many holidaymakers would be travelling through unfamiliar areas over the next few weeks.

"If an emergency occurs, the Emergency+ app provides users with their GPS reference which they can report to an emergency call taker to pinpoint physical location," he said.

Knowing the precise location of a caller makes it far easier for emergency operators to dispatch emergency services to the correct location.

Minister for Emergency Services David Elliott says the app also contains other emergency contact numbers as well as a short explanation of when to call non-emergency numbers.

"This is to help members of the public dial the correct number and reduce the number of calls to the Triple Zero (000) service that should be directed to another service," he said.

The Emergency+ app is free and available to download through the Google Play, Windows and Apple Stores.

Dog and cat blood donors wanted

BY JESSICA ROUSE

Newcastle's Animal Referral and Emergency Centre is appealing to Hunter pet owners to register their pets to become blood donors.

Both the Broadmeadow and East Maitland branches are looking to update their database of pets who are able to donate in emergencies.

Many patients require emergency blood transfusions as a result of trauma such as car accidents, rat bait toxicity, or any number of diseases.

With spring and summer approaching, outdoor activities with pets will be increasing, causing a rise in animal emergencies as well.

Managing Director of NAREC David Tabrett says pets must be of a certain size and age to donate and more information can be found on the AREC VET website.

"Blood transfusions are a very important part of the work we do for critically ill patients, however it is a fairly sparse resource that we can access and we rely on pet owners to make their pets available for blood collection."

Canine blood can only be stored for a short period of time, however feline blood on the other hand cannot be stored at all and therefore a database is needed to call upon in times of need.