June 15, 2026

Waikato AREC attended the annual Waikato Police District SAREX in Pirongia village over the 7th and 8th of March, alongside Land Search and Rescue.

Held at Pirongia Rugby Club rooms, those in attendance rotated through training workshops on the Saturday, including Stretcher Mule handling, Wandersearch, Urban Search and Maps plus Radio Communications.

The team were lucky enough to be treated to a demonstration with the Police drone and night-vision goggles – an extremely impressive demonstration with the drone showing off all that can be achieved with the various attachments. Sunday morning started early for the Search and Rescue Exercise, with the goal of finding a ‘missing youngster’.
Multiple teams were sent out to search local streets and properties, with the teams being coordinated by the AREC communications personnel on instruction from the IMT (Incident Management Team). Members from Tauranga and Papakura also attended to assist Waikato with the training and exercises developed for the SAREX.

Waikato Police DSARAC commented: “Thank you to your team who attend the SAREX over the weekend, so far, I’ve heard nothing but positive comments from all those involved. You would be proud of the way your team conducted their sessions. They were pitched and delivered well, and the AREC and LandSAR volunteers, along with our Police SAR team interacted beautifully – relationship build objective tick!”

If you are located in the Waikato and would like to join AREC as a volunteer please email enquiries@arec.nz or send in an application https://arec.nz/join-us/

Flash flooding, heavy rain and multiple large landslips hit the New Zealand East Coast of the North Island in January 2026, leaving many residents cutoff, without power and the ability to communicate by traditional means.

Civil Defence declared a local state of emergency, with Tairawhiti Emergency Management Office calling in AREC to support, by setting up hourly skeds with the remote EOCs (Emergency Operation Centre) for radio & welfare checks.
For some areas, radio was the only available technology to relay their community’s circumstances and needs.

The region was hit by Cyclone Gabrielle just three years prior, causing record levels of flooding for the area, fatalities, loss of internet and conventional telecommunications for days, with damages estimated to be in the billions. The topography of the East Coast and surrounding Gisborne area, in combination with climate change causing increasingly intense weather events, has made the region susceptible to slips and erosion risks. Since Gabrielle, two Winlink HF/VHF/UHF Radio Email Servers were constructed for Gisborne & Ruatoria with the assistance of InternetNZ.

This technology allows emails and welfare reports to be sent outside of the region when no internet exists. High Frequency (HF) technology is extremely reliable and requires no intermediate infrastructure. With advancements in data modes, messages can now be quickly and efficiently sent locally, nationally and even worldwide without relying on traditional terrestrial telecommunication infrastructure or satellites.

If you are interested in supporting AREC in severe weather events as a volunteer, please email enquiries@arec.nz or apply online https://arec.nz/join-us/

Our North Otago Group were recently invited to participate in an Otago Regional CDEM exercise, providing an opportunity to work alongside other emergency response professionals.

The scenario in place was a major weather event affecting most territorial areas from South to North Otago, Central Otago, Queenstown Lakes and Coastal Otago/Dunedin.

Regional EOC’s (Emergency Operation Centre) and an ECC (Emergency Coordination Centre) in Dunedin operated across the CDEM D4H platform. The scene was set in the days prior with weather tracking, reports and warnings, providing an opportunity for pre-planning and comms planning, and ultimately the standing up of multiple EOC’s and a Dunedin-based ECC.

There were 2 shifts of around 4 hours each that commenced following CIMS (Coordinated Information Management System) protocols. The North Otago Group took the opportunity to network and have the comms truck on display with gear including Winlink and Starlink.

They had members rotating between the comms truck and the EOC, and managed a demonstration talking to outlying communities in North Otago via radio and down to the ECC in Dunedin using CD frequencies.

They also sent Winlink messages from the EOC to the truck, and the truck to other locations, showing some real depth in the type and quality of the comms AREC have available.

The exercise was a great learning opportunity, and an enjoyable way to connect with others in the emergency response sector.

If you are located in North Otago and would like to volunteer with AREC please email enquiries@arec.nz or submit an application to join https://arec.nz/join-us/