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Chairman’s Chat
February 2, 2011 By Leave a Comment
What a busy month for callouts! Just as we’re all relaxing and unwinding – but a change is as good as a rest I say. Details on all the callouts are below – thanks Wayne. Operation Smithies was the longest and although the lost subject has now been charged with wasting Police time I agree with Mana Coastguard president Trevor Farmer who said that it was “a valuable experience for his team to be involved in”. You learn something from every callout, we had the new Tait radios to get familiar with (and they work really well) and worked in [...]
SAR Callout
January 4, 2011 By Leave a Comment
We had a short SAR callout on 4 January, where we were stood down just as teams were being deployed. The search was to assist Police with a shoreline search in Seatoun and on the Eastern side of the harbour for a swimmer who got into trouble the night before swimming off Seatoun Beach. At night, the Westpac helo, Lady Liz IV and Coastguard vessels searched for the swimmer without success. In the morning the dive squad was called in to search around Steeple Rock and the swimmer was located just as we were about to deploy teams into the [...]
Palmy Nth SAROp
January 3, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The SAR Op in Palmy North that we were responding to (for about half an hour – then the guy was located) was for a 63yr old male who went for a walk up the end of Kahuterawa Road (the area above Linton-Palmy Nth). He called police around 5pm yesterday saying he was lost. The missing party was from Levin and not familiar with area. He started walking around 10am the previous day but had slipped down a bank and while climbing out fell back down. He only had day gear with him but cell phone call said no injuries. [...]
SAROP Sinclair
December 31, 2010 By Leave a Comment
This SAROP on the Wellington south coast was to assist RCC/police with a shoreline search for 2 missing recreational boaters whose boat flipped around 1800 on 30th off Sinclair Head. One of the occupants of the boat managed to swim ashore around 0330 on 31st – he was swept as far as Lyall Bay (off the end of the airport) but managed to swim ashore. The two others from the boat were located in the water around 1000 on 31st about 3kms offshore. The first guy was spotted by a Helipro chopper and the second by Lady Liz IV (they [...]
The History Channel – The Three Harriers
December 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
October 1980, Rimutaka Forest Park. A feature I remember on this one was the Reflex Tasking – and I will emphasise this here. Saturday October 4 1980 was cold for the time of year, with a southerly storm through the Wellington region. Nevertheless the Wellington Baptist Harrier Club had set out on a Saturday afternoon club run, with about 18 of them heading into the Rimutaka Forest at the Catchpool carpark and setting off over the Orongorongo track. When they reached the Orongorongo River most decided to turn back, and just the three fittest and fastest in the group opted [...]
SAR Gear
December 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
by Paul Andrews My focus is to have the team gear deployabled as quickly and easily as possible and to have the gear fully available, as much as possible. Beyond this I’m still finding out how I can do this best, feedback always welcome. With the last operation I was returning from the SAR conference. It was a pleasure to find field teams had checked items back into the teams kits carefully. Thanks for recording the team leaders details on the top of the kit checklist, and the only gear issue (a missing clip of the radio harness) was recorded [...]
Upcoming Events & Trainings
December 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
RIVER SAFETY TRAINING DAY SAT 5 FEB 2011 8/8:30 – 3/4PM TE HORO VOLUNTEER RURAL FIRE STATION & OTAKI FORKS As LandSAR we operate in all weathers, can be in rivers we are not familiar with, and need to make judgements under pressure. The training is open to LandSAR members and Police SAR. It is being organised and run by Noel Bigwood, Rowena Johnstone and Mountain Safety Horowhenua Bushcraft Instructors (most of whom are also with SAR). Could other people experienced in river safety who wish to assist with the day please contact Noel or Rowena asap. LandSAR Horowhenua, LandSAR [...]
Chairman’s Chat
December 21, 2010 By Leave a Comment
November saw some of us head south to the SAR Forum and Conference in Hokitika. I went down early and attended the Forum and AGM on the Friday. The key message from Hadyn Smith (CEO LandSAR) was that local groups need to have a strong focus on raising their own funds. Notwithstanding the current funding shortfall, specifically around training; groups need to have their own funding. I support this wholeheartedly and see a significant chunk of my role dedicated to sourcing some sustainable funding. I have already had a meeting with the National Advisor of the Charities Commission to explore [...]
Radio Training
December 9, 2010 By Leave a Comment
AREC, Tawa Community Centre and Police Base Run by John Yaldwyn, this was an opportunity for members to get hands-on with our new Tait hand held VHF radios, as well as some of the older equipment. Being comfortable handling the new radios is very important for all field team members. Good to learn a bit of history about LandSAR communications, and to update our skills and knowledge. Thanks John! Attendees: Andrew Fyfe, Dave Heatley, Sue Rundle, Paul Bird, David Layburn, Andrew Chisholm, Marie Henderson, Meg Shaw, Simon McAuliffe, Sarah Holland, Jenny Beaumont, Paul Millin, Sue Cuthbertson, John Yaldwyn, Peter Smith, [...]
SAR Xmas Party
December 3, 2010 By Leave a Comment
3 DEC 2010, The Cadet Centre at Greta Point The SAR BBQ broke with tradition and moved from it’s usual venue at Wellington Police Station to the Cadet Centre at Greta Point. Full use of the outside space was made with the presence of the Push Play trailer packed with toys and sports equipment. Meg had prepared a short, fun rogaine that people participated in with varying degrees of seriousness (some would say too seriously!) Nick and George Engleback took out first place, fully exploiting the under-13 advantage! It was good to see a healthy turn out from our colleagues [...]
SAR National Conference
November 24, 2010 By Leave a Comment
24 NOV 2010, Hokitika by Paul Andrews As you may know Land SAR has been holding a national conference every two years since 2002. It is an opportunity for groups to see what is best practice both nationally and internationally in Search and Rescue. It also covers common problems facing Search now and discussion on what we can do about them. I was disappointed initially with the programme but once I arrived I was really pleased with how much I learnt from the conference. The conference is also a time to network and socialise with people from around the country [...]