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/
