My view - thumbs up

This weekend I was on the receiving end of an EMANZ course in Taupo and like all good emergency managers I was excited about giving up some of my weekend. In reality the fact that the course was on a Sunday, in Taupo, in the middle of winter was a bit of a pain. By lunchtime however I had thawed to the idea and in fact had a bit of a reality check.

The course was well run - thumbs up Steve Glassey & EMANZ and well attended - thumbs up response teams. For the last few years I have been removed from the volunteer aspect of civil defence and this course proved to me that vollies play an important part in our organisation. The fact that about 20 response team staff have given up their weekend to come to Taupo from as far as Auckland and Wellington was evidence enough to prove that volunteerism is alive and well in CD. What did impress me was the capability of these team members. If this is what NZ-RTs are about then I'm all for it. As full-time officers we need to be aware of this capability and incorporate them into our plans.

Phil Parker's set up in Taupo is pretty good too. Phil has been creative in his use of 'hand-me-downs' and proudly showed off his make-over of the old Central Zone publicity trailer (now a support unit complete with kitchen) and two fire engines (one shown here has been converted for flood response). This got me thinking that once we've identified a need, we can take advantage of opportunities as they arise... we don't need to wait for the Guicci gear all the time. Phil has been right on the money with his focus on response capability.

Thanks to all involved for a great day.