On call for duty

Bob Roberson, disaster volunteer coordinator with Volunteering North Queensland.

This holiday season Townsville retiree Bob Roberson will be in Melbourne doing an advanced resuscitation and defibrillation course.

He will then visit the Marysville and Kinglake communities to check on their wellbeing two years after the devastating fires destroyed the region.

“I hope to discuss how the community rebuilding is progressing and how the North Queensland community can learn from those experiences,” Bob says.

“I will also be on call in the event there is a cyclone.”

As a volunteer with the Rural Fire Service, Bob plays a vital role in the community, particularly during times of natural disaster.

Bob has been involved with the Rural Fire Service for most of his life as a volunteer fire fighter and later as a trainer, working every weekend for many years.

He is the disaster volunteer coordinator for Volunteering North Queensland, and assisted the council in training and organising the ‘Volunteers in Chainsaw' operation during the Cyclone Yasi clean-up in Townsville.

As a result of this work, Bob was invited to Ingham to help the Council and Lions Clubs with their community recovery program (he is now vice-president of the Kirwan Lions Club.)

In 2006, as a Rural Fire Brigade group officer during Cyclone Larry, he took a taskforce of trucks to the region to assist.

“More recently, I've been working with the community to create a volunteer disaster recovery program to help build the community’s resilience to natural disasters," Bob says.

“We plan to visit each suburb and invite the community to come and talk about community safety and how to help each other.

“It doesn’t cost anything to take steps towards a resilient community — just some biscuits and cups of coffee.”

Bob won a 2011 Premier’s Award for Queensland Seniors.