Explosive Protective Equipment (EPE) was approached by WA Police Bomb Response Unit (WAPOL BRU) in 2011 with a request to source equipment to support their donation to Cambodian Self Help Deminers (CSHD).
The equipment has been successfully handed over to CSHD by WAPolice representatives Detective Sergeant Tony Langer and Constable Jeremy O’Brien.
Detective Sargent Langer said ‘The WAPOL BRU utilises various personal protective equipment, robots and counter improvised explosive device equipment. The majority of this equipment is purchased through a Queensland Company called Explosive Protective Equipment (EPE). They provide Counter IED solutions to Australian Defence and government agencies. Through their philanthropic efforts we were fortunate enough to get donated approximately $60,000 worth of brand new demining equipment from Allen-Vanguard Corp (Canada). Allen-Vanguard is an international forerunner in the manufacture of counter IED/EOD and demining equipment. The equipment included 15 demining aprons and two Hook and Line (HAL) kits, which were imported to WA, at a cost covered by EPE, and then conveyed to Cambodia by us’.
The donated Allen-Vanguard demining aprons provide a substantially higher amount of protection from blast/ shock/ fragmentation to the deminers than the demining vests they are currently utilising. The aprons are also lighter than the current vests being utilised and provide superior groin and shoulder area protection.
WAPOL BRU said in a letter of thanks to EPE ‘thank you for your assistance, it is greatly appreciated and improved the lives of an impoverished people affected by landmines, along with fortifying Australian-Cambodian relations.’
Warwick Penrose, Director of EPE said “EPE has been supporting the Australian EOD community for over 15 years. When we heard about the good work being done by the Western Australian Police in support of the Vietnam Veterans Mine Clearing Team (VVMCT) in Cambodia we were very happy to rally the resources to support this very worthy cause. Our organisation is made up of former EOD Technicians who understand the threat and the demanding nature of demining work. The enhanced protection and semi-remote capabilities provided will save lives in the event of any uncontrolled detonations. EPE has, over many years demonstrated capability in this area and we look forward to continuing to support the EOD community in any way we can.”
There are many different kinds of bombs and land mines left in Cambodia: US material from the “Vietnam” war era, Chinese, Soviet and eastern bloc made materials left from the Khmer Rouge era in the 1970s and a decade of civil war that followed in the 1980s. This legacy of three decades of war has taken a severe toll on the Cambodian people; it is estimated that some 40,000 people live as amputees (one of the highest rates in the world). Estimates state at least that number again must have died in remote areas before they could be transported to medical facilities, before they were discovered, or because of infections.
Detective Sergent Langer is currently filming a documentary called Remnants of War in Vietnam and Cambodia. Click here To view Photo Gallery from filming on location
[box type=”download”]Download Australian Police Journal Article[/box]