Special Operations Rescue and Ambulance Service

Special Operations Rescue and Ambulance Service
The Special Operations Rescue and Ambulance Service is the titular audience from Rescue, Special Ops.

The show focuses on the crew of the Eastern Division, led by Michelle Letorneau.

Throughout the series, the name does not appear on the logos or anywhere else on the emergency service, and the characters use general terms, such as in Ep 13, season one, where Dean Gallagher says "Special Operations Rescue", however, in the episode "Out of the Ashes", Michelle is sent a letter addressed to"Michelle Letorneau,""Operations Manager, Eastern Division""Special Operations Rescue and Ambulance Service"sent by"Neville Bunbury""Director""Ambulance Service"Otherwise, Vivian Walker was emergency services minister in charge of the service.

Appearance
The service has white vehicles with blue patches. Above and underneath the blue patches are red caution stripes, so they resemble Ambulance Victoria. The RSO Helicopter is all red with white block stripes, and two of the unit's logos, (However, in the episode, "In Deep", the helicopter is repainted to be from the Lifeblood service)

Uniforms
The team have a few changes of clothes, the primary one being a blue jacket and pants with the unit's logo on them.

Pilots for the service wear a green flight suit.

The RSO logo is a hexagon

. In a real life photo taken years after the show ended, a firefighter from Fire And Rescue NSW's major structural collapse urban search and rescue taskforce wore a yellow hexagonal logo like RSO's on his shoulder, so it may be an international symbol.

Duties
RSO are seen responding to car accidents, which would make up the majority of their calls, however, during the series they have performed the following tasks.

Scuba diving

Self Contained Breathing Apparatus ( SCBA ) searches during fires ( Episode, Eco warriors, and others )

Collapse Rescue

Vertical rescue ( Abseiling )

Helicopter retrieval

Forest search and rescue

Trench rescue.

Facilities
The show focuses on the RSO station of the eastern division, in the City Of Sydney (Which isn't mentioned by name, and has ficticious versions of services like trains and ferries)

The station looks like it's back door opens onto the Naremburn area of Sydney, when Vince Marcello is chasing the assailant who would turn out to be Rick through the neighbourhood. It isn't known where the show took it's exterior shots from.

The station building has a front door to the left, with a surveillance camera sign to the right. Left of the door, there are some wires that look like balcolny barrier, which Dean climbs up in " Episode 13" to get to the second storey.

To the right of the front door is a garage door in two parts which hinges open for access to the garage. On the garage wall are yellow caution stripes and writing saying, "emergency vehicles". There is also a locker room on the left wall of the first floor when you enter.

On the first floor is a caged area needing an electronic password to get into. It holds a fire hose reel, and what looks like welding and generator equipment. There is also a staircase to the second floor. Somewhere on the first floor there is a roller door that can be lowered over a wide window. It may be a blast screen.

On the second floor there is a kitchen with red backsplash next to the staircase, and then next to the kitchen there is a room for computers where Vince has a desk, and a an office room for Michelle that looks out toward the city. It might be looking across to Barangaroo.

Above is a big hole in the roof which must be a skylight. Dean fell through it in "Episode 13"

In front of the kitchen, and towards the front of the building, is a dormitory area with beds. On the second floor in the station there is  a bathroom, with two signs near the shower stall. These signs list CPR technique, and one that says to wash your hands.

Their station is a modern brown brick building, where the rescue squad vehicle, ( the truck) and one of the team's two Nissan Patrols are kept.

The other Nissan four wheel drive is kept at Dean Gallagher's house, and the helicopter is probably sent from their equivalent of the NSW Ambulance HEMS airfield at Bankstown airport.

Background
The service looks like it is based on the real life Rescue teams and Special Operations Teams ( SOT ) of the NSW Ambulance Service. The SOT were set up in 2009, the same year as the show began, which may be where the writers got the idea for the show.

It isn't clear if the SORAR are a part of the ambulance service in the show. They are described as a unit, which means they are probably part of another emergency service.

In real-life New South Wales, each primary emergency service has a rescue capability of a few crews, like

ASNSW Ambulance Rescue

The (then) NSW Fire Brigades Heavy Rescue Squads, ( Service is now called, Fire and Rescue NSW)

NSWPF police rescue (Now police rescue and bomb disposal )

and the Volunteer Rescue Association. In the show, no other rescue squads are mentioned.

The RSO station seen in the show was a custom built set in an industrial area of Naremburn. Viewers wrote in to the Naremburn Tribune to try and find the building, but they didn't respond. It looks like the set may have been on Chrissie Street.

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