Port Fairy marine rescue and surf lifesavers practice with HEMS crew

The region's Helicopter Emergency Medical Service worked with the Port Fairy Marine Rescue Service and Port Fairy Surf Lifesaving Club to rehearse key water rescue manoeuvres including aerial recovery.

Babcock air crew officer Greg Crooks helps operate the HEMS helicopter and said winching skills had to be refreshed every six months to keep them fresh in an emergency.

"Things like winching and night flying are perishable skills so we need to stay current with them," he said.

"We cover the whole south-west, so we try to alternate the practice sessions between Warrnambool and Port Fairy to keep their experience up."

Mr Crooks said live aerial water rescues didn't happen often.

"They are thankfully infrequent. Most rescues are close to shore and lifesavers or the coast guard get to them before us," he said.

"I will quite often get enacted for a rescue and nearly every time the coast guard gets there first."

The HEMS becomes crucial when rescue crews can't get access by boat, or when someone needs urgent medical assistance. But Mr Crooks said sometimes conditions could become unsafe even for the HEMS crew.

"There are limits, no hard and fast rules, but the big one is weather and what the pilot is happy to fly in. So the assessment has to be done, and we then make a decision on best course of action," he said.

"If it's too rough for us generally they'll be close to rocks and its usually safer for a rubber boat to try to get to that person."

Mr Crooks said it was the first time they had worked with the PFSLC using their new inflatable rescue boats and the training went well.