Search and Rescue 1993

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SEARCH AND RESCUE 1993 Rob Brown t's been a busy year in terms of "victims". Theteams wered dispatched Monday. In the early stages of the Search and Rescue and the Club throughout an area in the search, several Club members includhas been involved in a number ofland Maungakotukutuku Valley, inland ing Eric Evans, Sue Walsh, Ian Search and Rescue training events from McKay's Crossing. Bunckenburg, Bruce Pool, Mark and operations. The following is an Larsen,JohnSim, andl Delmar Schafer outline of the Club's involvement in The aim was to get as many teams were involved in contact searching some of the training and operations involved in the exercise as possible. through difficult country thick with during 1993. Umpires and SAR Advisors were dracophyllum and supplejack. A seemingly omnipresent whichprovided WT&MC team made up of Rob SARTEST, CATCHPOOL enough incentive for teams to give it Brown, Mark Larsen, and John Sim 61 MARCH 1993 their best shot. Most teams came were tasked on the Monday to search The main purpose of the SARTEST away from the exercise with some- McKerrow Stream and found Matwas as a hands-on training exercise thing more than they went in with. thew's body later that morning. with an element ofi inter-club competition and, more importantly, an CALLOUT, RIMUTAKA The Blake family formally expressed element of fun. Theevent includedan FOREST PARK their appreciation to the "Tongue & assessment of patient care, radio 6-9AUGUST 1993 Meats" for their contribution of recomms, Tararua stretcher manage- On the Friday evening just before sources in the search for Matthew. ment, and overall speed and effi- dark, a callout was initiated by Matciency over a challenging course in thew Blake's family and the Police RADIO COMMS EVENING the vicinity ofthe Catchpool roadend. Land SAR machinery kicked intol life. 17 AUGUST 1993 The stretcher-carry course included After three days' extensive searching Lyndsay Fletcher, Rob Brown, and approximately 100 metres of stream, throughout the Catchpool area, Mat- Eleanor Howick attended this course a 45 degree slope mostly covered thew's body was found in McKerrow which was run by Wellington AREC. with loose clay and dotted with gorse Stream just 2km from where he was The course involved a run-down on bushes, a river crossing, and naviga- last seen. theoperationofradiocquipment: tmade tion over cliffs, skinnytracks, fences, available to volunteers for SAR opand various other obstacles. The Club contributed searchers from erations. Versions of codan (condor) the Friday night right through to and vhf sets were made available to The SARTEST was run as] part ofthe when Matthew's body was found on participants to view and operate. WAMC Sports Weekend: andourteam ofeight was led by Mark Larsen with assistance from Rex Benbrook. They fared well over the arduous course and finished last out of a very competitive field, but those Clubi members who participated gained a lot from the exercise. MINI SAREX,PARAPARAUMU JUNE 1993 This mini SAREX was a one day exercise run by the Wellington SAR Organisation: att the WellingtonAREC L clubrooms in Paraparaumu. A DD WT&MC team comprised of Rob - DD à Brown, Damian Kells, and Matthew Grainger participated in an exercise which involved teams from most Wellington clubs and two separate