On Monday I went to the Wellington region NZRC emergency disaster management team meeting. Firstly it was definitely a mission in true red cross base style. An 1 1/2hr 2 buses and a train later I arrived at the centre in Paraparamu (aka Pram). They share the site with a Civil Defence ops base and a dog pound! Luckily they only meet once a month so not too crazy commitment and will be quicker when I get a car. Also there isn’t much happening over the summer as it is their ‘quiet’ time! I know summer – and the opposite of busy!!!
I was welcomed enthusiastically to the team night with the team doing some rope knotting practice before the training got started – I was glad I remembered some knots from climbing. Within the first 15min I was given a rope and the boiler/squad suit (see photos)! They were shocked we wore white shirts but I can see pros and cons to both workwear choices. Apparently everyone wears the suit every team night too! So I was over the moon to find out the training was a Working with Other Services/major incident session ;-) but was interesting to see the differences and I stopped trying to find the UK equivalent of different things as it is all delegated slightly differently. Also they (well at least the NZRC) don’t have Bronze, Silver or Gold roles. Sounds like there will be some interesting incidents as well as exercises to come. Also Mt Ruapehu has started coughing up a bit of the hot stuff so we are all wondering when the big spew will come – don’t worry I live miles away from the volcano and have my dust mask ready if the ash cloud heads down south ;-)
Only 4 of the team were at the meeting out of the 14 (including me) which they apologised over but I said that numbers get that low in London too. So yes that is 14 volunteers for the whole region below Wanganui! The thing is that the Civil Defence are big stuff here for ER and then St Johns and Welly Free ambulance are there for the medical stuff. So NZRC are really there for ground rescue and welfare.
After Christchurch’s big shake, the international guys decided NZRC needed a bit more support and funded 6 ER vehicles and Wellington region gets one. Basically from what I get it is a lorry sized equipment unit. At the moment they have a ute with a trailer with equipment for a 50 person survivor reception centre. You would think that the new vehicle would be based with the EDMT team but no it will be in Porirua along with some of the international stores. The thing is that along with the team based 1hr from Welly, in a big quake there is a hillside that will decide to slide into the sea blocking Pram from the south so any team would have to be flown or shipped to Welly! But as I said before we wouldn’t be the first responders. So I would be the only one near the equipment (rings a bell again?) but the team won’t be there lol.
On a side note – I am worried about loosing the clinical experience so looked into ambulance work. The national ambulance is run by St Johns and a call out for an ambulance is $200/>£100 a time which is covered by ACC insurance but still…!!! However Welly is unique by having Wellington Free Ambulance which is what it says on the tin. So my preference would be to join them but visa stuff seems to be a bit of a barrier for that one. So the only other option would be the Johnnys but reluctant from my house mates comments. We shall see – will find something :-)
