David Charles SANDERSON

AKA  CHARLIE

Late of  ?

NSW Redfern Police Academy Class #  126

New South Wales Police Force

Regd. #  14494

Rank:  Probationary Constable – appointed 5 April 1971

Constable 1st Class – appointed 5 April 1976

Sergeant – appointed 2 May 1986

Inspector – appointed ? ? ?

Chief Inspector – appointed ? ? ?

Superintendent – appointed ? ? ?

Final Rank = Superintendent

Stations:  ?, Liverpool ( ‘A’ List – early 1970’s ), Campbelltown ( 35 Division Detective ), Bankstown ( 19 Division – Detective ), Instructor – Detectives Training Course 2/77 & 3/77, Deniliquin ( Det Sgt – late 1980’s ), Lismore ( Commander ), Tweed Heads, District Officer – Albury, Thredbo Landslide Commander ( 1997 ), Queanbeyan ( Commander ) – Retirement

Service:  From  ? ? pre April 1971?  to  19 July 2002 =  31+ years Service

Awards:   National Medal – granted 8 June 1988 ( Det Sgt )

1st Clasp to National Medal – granted 8 March 1997 ( C/ Insp )

Commissioners Commendation for the Emergency Response Management of Thredbo Landslide in July 1997. Award received in 2000

Born:   Tuesday  29 April 1947

Died on:  Sunday  28 April 2019 ( ONE day before his 72 birthday )

Age:  71

Cause:   Melanoma & Brain Cancer

Event location:  Home

Event date:  Sunday  28 April 2019 during the morning – surrounded by family

Funeral date:   Thursday  2 May 2019 @ 1.30pm

Funeral location:   Saint Raphael’s Catholic Church, 47 Lowe St, Queanbeyan, NSW

there will be NO formal Police involvement at the funeral although family and friends are invited to attend.

Wake location:  ?TBA

Funeral Parlour:  William Cole Funerals, Canberra  6253 3655

Buried at:   Queanbeyan Lawn Cemetery,  Lanyon Dr, Jerrabomberra, NSW

 Memorial located at:   ?

CHARLIE is NOT mentioned on the Police Wall of Remembrance  *NEED MORE INFO

 Funeral location:  [codepeople-post-map]

FURTHER INFORMATION IS NEEDED ABOUT THIS PERSON, THEIR LIFE, THEIR CAREER AND THEIR DEATH.

PLEASE SEND PHOTOS AND INFORMATION TO Cal

May they forever Rest In Peace

SANDERSON David Charles ( CHARLIE )

29 April 1947- 28 April 2019

Beloved husband of Sue.

Father of Matt, Joe, Sarah, Paul, Annie, Pete and Christina.

Passed away peacefully the morning of Sunday, 28 April surrounded by his family.

Charlie will be remembered as a loving father, a dedicated Police Officer and a great mate to all who knew him.

The funeral service for Charlie will be held at St Raphael’s Catholic Church, Lowe Street, Queanbeyan on Thursday 2 May 2019, commencing at 1:30 pm.

Burial will follow at Queanbeyan Lawn Cemetery.

Published in The Canberra Times on Apr. 30, 2019

May 1, 2019

Robert Cooper

Survivor found in resort rubble

Published: August 2, 1997 12:00 am

Rescuers eased aside dirt and rubble Saturday to reach a man found alive nearly 2 1/2 days after 20 people were buried by a landslide.

“A miracle has occurred,” New South Wales police inspector Charlie Sanderson said after Stuart Diver was heard by rescuers about 54 hours after the landslide swept over a ski resort. The discovery raised hope that others may have survived. The confirmed toll so far is one survivor, three bodies located and 16 people still missing. Hours earlier, police had warned relatives that there was no hope of finding anyone alive.

After digging all night, rescuers “went ballistic” when sensitive sound monitoring equipment picked up noises from under a concrete slab, said police spokesman Mark Hargreaves.

Diver was conscious during the ordeal but had little feeling in his body, police said.

Officials said Diver, a ski instructor, was in peak physical condition, which would have aided his survival as temperatures plunged to 16 degrees over the past three nights.

Despite the threat of another landslide, rescue crews – at times using their hands to avoid sending rubble into the excavated area – worked their way through debris to within three feet of Diver.

An oxygen cylinder and mask and what appeared to be a foil space blanket were passed to workers trying to reach Diver. A medical helicopter was waiting nearby to take him to a hospital.

“If we can keep this person alive, that’s marvelous,” Ambulance spokesman Steve Johnson told TV Channel Seven.

Sanderson said police were very confident of getting him out some time Saturday.

The threat of another avalanche prompted the area to be evacuated temporarily Saturday.

“In this case two ambulance people stayed in the tunnel at great peril to themselves in proximity to where this person is,” Sanderson said.

https://www.deseretnews.com/article/575684/Survivor-found-in-resort-rubble.html

In 1997, Fire & Rescue NSW had about 30 urban search and rescue trained staff — now the figure is almost 10 times that.

Training and technology have both vastly improved in the past 20 years.

Australia now has two internationally accredited urban search and rescue teams, meaning they can deploy anywhere in the world at a moment’s notice.

Six hours to get in the air

The NSW team is one of two in Australia to hold classifications with United Nations International Search and Rescue Advisory Group.

“When we’re told there’s an incident we need to be up and out of the here in six hours,” Chief Superintendent Bailey said.

“So that means getting a team of 72 people, all our equipment, which is over 36 tonnes of equipment, all together onto a cargo plane and anywhere in the world within six hours.”

Responding quickly is crucial — search and rescue crews say after around 100 hours life expectancy falls significantly.

They’ve been tested too. Firefighters say in 2011, Australian crews got to the Christchurch earthquake before some teams from Auckland.

The NSW team was deployed to the Japan earthquake and tsunami and also Tropical Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu in 2015.

To remain permanently prepared, the search and rescue teams train in gruelling and realistic scenarios.

“What we do is simulate a pancake collapse — so that’s when building floors topple on top of one another,” Fire & Rescue’s Manager of Specialised Operations Darryl Dunbar said.

“Then our crews have to make entry through those floors to gain an entry underground to access that tunnel network.”

Once teams arrive on the scene, they use an array of gadgets to search for life — including vibration sensors that can detect the slightest bit of scraping or tapping on metal or concrete.

“[Vibrations] can actually travel more than 50 metres through a structure depending on how a building has collapsed,” station officer Daniel O’Dea said.

“These crews, that’s their job to identify that sound, work out what it is exactly if it’s in fact a distress call from someone.”

“We’ve got cameras that can snake down into a void, a tiny gap that was a wide as your finger and go down through that gap to manoeuvre that to locate any signs of life.”

First responders’ training facility revealed

When the ABC visited the Ingleburn training facility, search and rescue teams were running a refresher course for firefighters.

The idea is to get as many firefighters as possible around the state trained because they are likely to be the first responders.

It begins with the basics — cutting through tonnes of concrete and then using timber as a lever to create access.

One of the firefighters on the training course was Scott Featherstone, son of Paul, the paramedic who helped Stuart Diver for 12 hours until he was freed from the concrete after the Thredbo landslide.

He said his dad’s efforts in part inspired him to become a firefighter.

“I always wanted to do something where I could [help people],” he said.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-07-23/how-thredbo-landslide-changed-disaster-preparation-in-australia/8732152?fbclid=IwAR1fYs2_DruP-tSm9XNcr045Nsxz18J49wvrUtlEnhnQvsDKGrAH3-af0-s