Last paper in course

Last Friday the final unit standards for the Level 2
Certificate in Emergency Management being conducted by EMANZ for the Manawatu-Wanganui CDEM Group took part. The last paper was on aircraft safety and the team spent time in the classroom followed by practical lessons provided by the staff of the Square Trust Rescue Helicopter.

Some of the team hadn't had the opportunity to participate in aircraft safety training or go for a helicopter flight. This was good practical experience for some of the team that might be called on to do aerial reconnaissance, extreme event data collection, or welfare support flights.

Good response at response workshop

The fourth of our Group Plan review mini workshops was held this week... response is going to be our focus for a while so it was good to get some of the basics sorted. There won't be any startling changes but there is a move for consistency and best practice. The Co-ordinating Executive Group will be providing greater clarity on expectations and then following through to ensure that we a walking the walk and talking the talk.

After a shorter period of discussion than usual, the participants at the mini workshop recommended that we prepare the readiness, response and recovery chapters of the Plan and then bring them to the CEG for discussion. The basic understanding is in place following the first two workshops and the response discussions at this workshop have given us a good lead for the content of the Plan. Watch this space... things are happening.

Back on deck

Well, it's good to be back and refreshed ready for the run up to Xmas. I've had a weeks leave and a week on an UNDAC refresher course and was in Taupo yesterday for the second Central Plateau Volcanic Advisory Group meeting. With only 1,124 e-mails in my inbox I'm sure I'll be getting to the one you sent me any day now!

First of all, let's welcome Stewart Davies QSM to the managers role previously filled by Matthew Smith at Palmerston North City Council. Stewart brings a wide range of experiences to the emergency management scene including that of a Director of Land SAR New Zealand and a local SAR advisor.

The CPVAG meeting in Taupo provided a good opportunity for members to be updated on activities over the past 6 months. Further work is on-going with the review of the monitoring networks and the development of the Volcanic Strategy for the Group. I'm pretty sure that the Group will continue to refine the arrangements for a co-ordinated response to activity as well as day-to-day initiatives of members.

The first of the CDEM Group Plan review response mini workshops is being held tomorrow for CEG members. This meeting will set the direction for the preparation of the response chapter of the plan. A Welfare Advisory Group meeting is scheduled for next week to get officer input to welfare response issues. This will all be written up in time for a further response workshop to confirm the chapter before it goes to CEG. Here is a link to all the posts about the Plan review.

The Horizons EOC was activated on two occasions while I was away. The team managed events well including an opening of the Moutoa Floodgates. I also heard good reports of the new equipment in the EOC. Well done team!

Task Force Green work continues to be co-ordianted by Ross Brannigan in the Manawatu and Rangitikei districts. There is still a little bit of clean up work to do from the storm event of July.

OK - that's a quick update... more regular posts to come.