ON your very worst of days it's often the faces and forces of the Dubbo Volunteer Rescue Association who is there to lend a hand.
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Dubbo's VRA is one of 50 squads in NSW who conduct every manner of rescue - from road accidents, search and rescues, flood and vertical rescues to animal rescues.
Squad president Neil Sturrock has been with Dubbo VRA for 35 years and said while some days are tough going it was a vital community service.
"You help people in their time of need," he said.
"Any time anyone gets in trouble we're the primary rescue agency in Dubbo."
In his time as a volunteer Mr Sturrock has performed countless rescues, including: a dog with its head stuck in a car wheel, children with their finger stuck in a plug hole and a bull stuck up to its chest in the river.
"You never know what it's going to be like until you get there," he said.
Recently Dubbo's VRA members were called to three fatalities in two separate road crashes within 21 hours of each other.
The first in was in Ballimore east of Dubbo on July 10, the second was near Mendooran on July 11.
"It's fairly horrific ... it does take a certain type of person, but the thing is we know we're they're helping someone," Mr Sturrock said.
"You can never get used to it, but as a VRA member your learn to compartmentalise and you try not to focus on someone who was killed, it's the person you can save."
VRA members often work very closely alongside other emergency services at the incidents they are called out to.
"People think because we're volunteers we provide an amateur service ... we train every week to improve our professional service," he said.
"We're an emergency service, we just happen to be made up of volunteers."
There are currently around 15-20 operational volunteers, but Dubbo VRA is always is need of more.
"We need at least two people to respond to each call out," Mr Sturrock said.
"In the 55 years of Dubbo VRA we've always turned up whenever we've been needed."
Among the VRA's ranks in Dubbo are business people, farmers, prison workers and other emergency service personnel, just to name a few.
"We have all sorts of people and there's no limits," Mr Sturrock said.
"There's nothing more rewarding than helping people when they need it."
To find our more visit the Dubbo Volunteer Rescue Association's Facebook page.
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