VICSES Bacchus Marsh volunteers have been recognised for the important role they played in rescuing 45 school children from a serious bus crash near Eynesbury last year.

Almost 12 months after a truck collided with the rear of a school bus on Exford Road in Melbourne’s west, 13 VICSES volunteers and staff were on Saturday awarded the rare ‘Commendation for Service’ for their response to the crash.

As part of a major multi-agency response alongside CFA, FRV, Ambulance Victoria and Victoria Police personnel, VICSES volunteers arrived at the crash site on May 16 to find several children trapped inside the bus wreckage.

The volunteers worked seamlessly alongside Fire Rescue Victoria (FRV) members to deploy airbags to partially lift the bus and free patients.

The rescue, which occurred around school pick-up time, was further complicated with the presence of parents and family members of the patients at the incident scene.

The incident was multi-faceted and to this day carries a physical, mental and emotional toll on VICSES volunteers, however, at the time of the incident, this did not deter them from their commitment to their community and their patients’ safety.

One VICSES Bacchus Marsh volunteer exemplified the unit’s exceptional dedication on the day, using their training as a Victorian paramedic to successfully apply a tourniquet to one of the injured children.

VICSES volunteers Lauren Majewski, Stephan Etienne, Shaun Williams, Matthew Brindley, Wayne Barnes, Paul Quick, Mick Schembri, Kiara Adams, Peter Olthof, Sumit Gupta, Dave Lambrick and staff members Marisha Patton and Jackson Bell were on Saturday honoured for their bravery on the day.

The ceremony came just days after another cohort of VICSES Bacchus Marsh volunteers were awarded the ‘Commendation for Service’ for their response to another challenging bus crash at Pentland Hills in 2022.

Quotes attributable to VICSES Chief Operations Officer, Tim Wiebusch:

“Our VICSES members’ exceptional dedication and depth of skills were evident in the well-coordinated and specialised approach to this significant incident, which underscored their commitment to serving the Victorian community.

“The incident confronting our members was physically, mentally and emotionally demanding as first responders, particularly given the significant injuries sustained by some of the children.

“I couldn’t be prouder of the exceptional response of our Bacchus Marsh crews and command staff, who each lived out our VICSES value that afternoon of being focussed and adaptable in their approach.”