The State Emergency Services (SES) have played a key role in not only the rescue efforts during the two major floods this year but the recovery effort as well.

Whether it be on a local level through the Lismore SES or a regional level through the Northern Rivers SES or a state-level through the NSW SES, the mostly volunteer organisation has worked tirelessly, like many volunteers, to help save lives and get people back on their feet. Plus now, they are helping people prepare for future events through educational workshops.

Mark Elm is the Commander of the Northern Rivers SES, their headquarters is on Lancaster Drive in Goonellabah.

Commander Elm sat down with the Lismore App and shared two aspects of their recent experience, abuse and the need for more volunteers.

"You know, as commander of the Northern Rivers, I sometimes read comments on social media outlets and I sometimes hear verbal abuse in the streets and you know what I think? I think, can't we just be a kinder community and a more forgiving community," Mark said.

"I've got to say, I haven't been more proud of our unpaid volunteers in orange, our SES volunteers, who go out there when we're sleeping and when we're shopping, and when we're going about our own activities, these members respond to road crash rescue, general land rescue, in some areas of our command near Kyogle they do vertical rescue on behalf of another partner agency, that is the New South Wales Police, they assist in land searches, other partner agencies, they assist in the bushfires, they assist in floods, storm and tsunami response and preparation."

(Commander Elm taking the volunteers through the latest weather information)

"When these people volunteer their time out of their day to assist their local community and an individual in the community is so unkind so ungrateful to heap vitriolic rubbish at my members, I have a human emotional response and that's usually shame. I think we as a community have to be more kind to each other. I fail to understand this increasing trend of courage behind a keyboard. If someone's got a complaint, please come to my office, please come and speak to me about it."

"I want to ask these people if they are willing to dedicate your time, your effort and your sacrifice. These roles are dangerous, the storm jobs are dangerous, and the in-water and on-water flood response is dangerous work. The high stresses operationally in the field and the high stresses in our IMT, which is our incident management team, we're currently running is immense."

"The pressures to protect life and property is immense. And these members take it seriously. These are volunteers, in the main our membership is a volunteer base. We have an unpaid support network of paid staff supporting those volunteers. Please support your volunteers. It's unconscionable when people take their wrath, their version of life on good people volunteering their time for their communities."

One element of that abuse is the diversity of the SES workforce, something that really angers Commander Elm.

"I won't tolerate that as a commander. I support our membership and our membership is reflective of our community because in Australia we have a very inclusive society."

"Having said that the majority of Northern Rivers residents are beautiful, caring, welcoming people who support our New South Wales SES volunteers."

We asked Commander Elm how many people are involved in the Northern Rivers SES to give you an understanding of the size and scale of the volunteer organisation.

"I have 24 units scattered around the Northern Rivers and I have on paper 600 volunteers."

"We consistently need more because volunteers have lives. You know they're your mother, your father, your sister, your brother, varying in ages from 16 years well into retirement."

"We do checks on people to see if they are fit and proper people to be members of the SES. People should have a positive attitude and want to get amongst the thick of it, although there is a wide variety of roles for members. You can work in an office, you don't have to get on a road, you don't have to get in the water. We're after intellectuals, we're after leaders, in fact, I need some leaders, I've got some leadership gaps."

If you are thinking of joining the SES, what is the commitment?

"The commitment is varied, there is not a minimum and hence we've got 600 volunteers on the books. Not every one of those members is available all the time, they might be away for six months going on deployment because some are in the military, some are in our police, our ambulance, in our rural fire service and in our Fire Rescue New South Wales, some wear triple hats. Some are mothers, some are fathers and they work in business or they work in government, and some are unemployed or in the disability sector. We are flexible and we just appreciate when people can, and if you want to commit a lot or a little you're welcome."

If you would like to start volunteering for the SES or enquire, drop into 7 Lancaster Drive, Goonellabah or call 13 25 00.