Wellington Emergency Response Team (WERT) NZRT-8

Taskforce Kiwi's own MICHELLE GILLMAN 🇳🇿 will be speaking at an upcoming Australasian Women in Emergencies Network panel discussion, Celebrating Volunteerism. Part of Te Wiki Tūao ā-Motu National Volunteer Week, over the course of the evening five remarkable women from across the emergency management sector will share their stories. In doing so they'll provide insights into their different organisations, including Taskforce Kiwi, Land Search and Rescue New Zealand, Fire and Emergency NZ, New Zealand Red Cross and the Wellington Emergency Response Team (WERT) NZRT-8. The speakers explore challenges, their why, and ways to get involved. The event concludes with an open Q&A session, fostering connections and empowering action. Date: 20 June 2024 Time: 7:00 pm to 8:30 pm New Zealand Time Location: Virtual Cost: Free RSVP via Humanitix: https://lnkd.in/ghA5qbib #NVW2024 #awenetwork #womeninemergencies Volunteering New Zealand | Tūao Aotearoa

And that’s a wrap on exercise month in the Wellington Region! 🌟 Throughout May, over 500 people across councils, WREMO and partner agencies put on their emergency management vests for Exercise Ua Whero – a scenario which focused on severe weather and flooding across the whole region. Twice a year, our region’s nine councils run exercises like this to help practise and prepare for an emergency response. Each local council stands up an Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) that focuses on impacts specific to their area. Greater Wellington stands up the Emergency Coordination Centre (ECC) to coordinate a regional response and provide support to each of the EOCs. Exercises like these are a great opportunity for our council staff and partner agencies to come together to build our collective capability. Mahi tika ana! (Great work!) 🤩

More inter-agency and inter-brigade fun at training this week! We invited NZRT7 (Vic Rescue from VUW) and NZRT8 (Wellington Emergency Response Team) along with our fellow Operational Support from Tawa, Wainuiomata and Remutaka (Upper Hutt) to take part in some joint training at Kilbirnie Station... what a cool group of volunteers! In mixed groups we drilled the use of ladders, lighting equipment and the establishment of a casualty collection point - all things that all of us could be called upon to do 'on the job' and areas where we have complementary skills and experience. We also laid on a BBQ and a good opportunity to get our members talking to each-other and building those bonds that're all-important when we work together at the scene of an incident. Also great to have representatives from Wellington City Council and the Wellington Region Emergency Management Office observe and get to know the capabilities that FENZ's Operational Support Units bring to our community resilience. Thanks too to our Group Manager for stopping by to check out the action! Here's a few photos. Big thanks to the NZRT's who attended - and to the OSU's who helped ensure that FENZ weren't outnumbered by too much! 😅

🌟 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟰 🌟 We are still buzzing after Friday's Long Walk Home! 🌞 Nearly 200 people joined us on the walk from 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝘁𝗼 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮, 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗿𝘂𝗮 (just under 30km)! Ka mau te wehi to everyone who participated, hopefully you feel a little more prepared (and the blisters have recovered)! A special shoutout to Wellington Free Ambulance for coming along to support us on the day. 𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝘄𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝘄𝗲 𝘄𝗮𝗹𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗿𝘂𝗮? After a large earthquake in the Wellington region, 𝗿𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗸𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝘂𝗹𝗱 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿. Many of the city’s 80,000 commuters would have no choice but to walk home. The Long Walk Home event 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝘆𝗲𝗮𝗿𝘀 𝗮𝗴𝗼 after the 2013 Seddon earthquake which happened on a Friday afternoon.  In this earthquake, the airport and rail links closed temporarily for inspection, and bus replacements were not available for many hours. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗹𝗲𝗳𝘁 𝗺𝗮𝗻𝘆 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆'𝘀 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝘂𝘁𝗲𝗿𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗱 𝗶𝗻 𝗪𝗲𝗹𝗹𝗶𝗻𝗴𝘁𝗼𝗻 𝗰𝗶𝘁𝘆. Some commuters decided to walk home, some stayed with friends/whānau in the city while a community response also kicked in where people were offering rides home for those who were stuck.  Wellington was lucky in this event as the road and rail links were not damaged.  However, in a larger earthquake, these transport links are likely to be damaged and unavailable 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮 𝘄𝗲𝗲𝗸 𝗼𝗿 𝗹𝗼𝗻𝗴𝗲𝗿. It highlighted the challenges of getting home after a large earthquake in the region. 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗸𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗲𝗱 𝗼𝗳𝗳 𝗮 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗶𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗶𝘃𝗲; 𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗟𝗼𝗻𝗴 𝗪𝗮𝗹𝗸 𝗛𝗼𝗺𝗲 - a real world preparedness activity based on a bigger earthquake in the city to simulate and highlight the importance of commuters being prepared while making it a fun event at the same time.  This year's Long Walk Home route was to Porirua. Past events took us to the Hutt Valley. Find out more about how you and your household can be prepared for emergencies by visiting https://www.wremo.nz/