Staff and volunteers worked together to ensure the safety of Hillview residents evacuated to Kooweerup Regional Health Service on Saturday.
By Jade Lawton
RESIDENTS of the Hillview Bunyip Aged Care Hostel were evacuated on Saturday as fire threatened the facility for the first time in its 20-year history.
The hostel was one of three aged care centres across the state that was evacuated in the face of Saturday’s raging fires.
Hillview CEO Frank Hoff said the decision was made just after lunch.
“We were in contact with the Kooweerup Regional Health Service all morning, and they were more than happy for us to relocate there,” he said.
Seven residents were collected by nearby family members, while the remaining 41 were taken to Kooweerup.
Sadly, only 40 Hillview residents returned from Kooweerup. One lady, who was ill, died on Saturday night.
“We were definitely concerned,” Mr Hoff said.
“We made the decision to leave early considering the nature of our residents.”
A bus was used to transport the majority, while eight ambulances were used to ferry the frailer patients.
Kooweerup Regional Health Service CEO Terrona Ramsay said her staff and some volunteers worked together to accommodate the residents.
“We had excellent support from the community. We had two Division Two nurses who don’t work here just come in and offer help. I will be ringing to thank them later,” she said.
“Maxi-Care beds in Drouin emptied out their factory and brought beds here. Staff worked selflessly, and some thought of things I had forgotten about – like doing laundry on the Sunday so we would be alright for the next week.
“Husbands and partners also came in to help. We had an SES crew turn up, but we didn’t need them; we were able to send them off to somewhere more urgent,” she said.
Residents returned to Hillview on Sunday afternoon. Staff members were this week restoring order at the hostel and cleaning up the mess left in the wake of their departure.
Mr Hoff said the fire came within five kilometres of the hostel.
“It was definitely a shock. The evacuation put all our emergency policies to the test, and we will be reviewing these in the coming weeks to see if we can further improve.”
