On Thursday 16 October, East Gippsland Shire Council, in collaboration with Victoria Police, CFA, SES, Ambulance Victoria, and the Paynesville Coast Guard, will conduct a planned multi-agency emergency management exercise on Raymond Island.

The exercise is expected to run from 10.00 am until 3.00 pm and will simulate a road crash rescue incident near the corner of Fourth Avenue and Fifth Parade during a ferry outage. It will involve the Sampson barge and Council’s water taxi, Ugly Betty.

This exercise is designed to test emergency responses and reassure the community that emergency services can access Raymond Island even if the main ferry is unavailable.

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗿𝘆 𝘄𝗶𝗹𝗹 𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗻 𝗶𝗻 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲 𝗮𝘀 𝗻𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝗹 𝘁𝗼 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝘁𝗶𝗺𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗯𝗹𝗲.

Although the water taxi Ugly Betty will be in use for the exercise, it will not carry general passengers during its participation in the exercise.

It is anticipated that the exercise will have minimal impact on vehicle or pedestrian movements at Paynesville or Raymond Island. The public can watch the drill from a safe distance.

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