March, 2010 edition #11

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National SAREX Guidelines

Search and Rescue Exercises (SAREX) are an important way for SAR agencies and practitioners to bring all their skills and systems together in a real-life training situation. It takes a lot of work, time and dedicated people to set up a local or national SAREX that is structured and operationally relevant - ask anyone who has organized one!

The need to improve SAREX planning and implementation was recognized by the NZSAR Council in its 2009 Core Curriculum Review. It recommended developing simple guidelines for coordinating authorities and local SAR groups to organize and run SAREXs. This became a project commissioned by the NZSAR Secretariat, coordinated by SARINZ in close conjunction with NZ Police, Rescue Coordination Centre NZ, Surf Life Saving NZ, LandSAR NZ and the Royal New Zealand Coastguard.

The basic principles for a SAREX are the same whether the scenario is finding trampers or dealing with a maritime incident. Consequently the guidelines provide a checklist of key activities and steps to follow which make organising and implementing SAREX faster, easier and more productive.

The key improvement areas of a SAREX include conducting a needs analysis so the purpose is very clear and relevant, documenting the planning phase and executing the SAREX. The guidelines go further by recommending mentors who can intervene and provide support to participants and monitors to evaluate and provide feedback. The analysis phase follows where all the lessons learnt can be identified and implemented into preplans, SOPS and further training. This is the traditional training cycle in action.

The guidelines contain model land and marine examples. There are a variety of other forms recommended including conducting a needs analysis, monitoring a SAREX and post exercise reports. An added advantage is that the similar format will, over a very short time, produce a library of fully planned SAREX templates.

In a nutshell they are-easy-to read guidelines (not rules) that help coordinating authorities design, develop and manage local SAREX through to large multi-agency SAREX. Duncan Ferner, NZSAR Secretariat, has expressed his delight with project outcomes. Over the coming months he will advocate that the guidelines be endorsed by the NZSAR Consultative Committee and approved by the NZSAR Council.

One of the unexpected outcomes of the project was confirmation that to make it easier for emergency response agencies such as NZ Police, Rescue Coordination Centre NZ, Rural Fire Service, Surf Life Saving NZ, LandSAR NZ and Royal New Zealand Coastguard to work together they need training exercises run in a similar format. Nationally consistent interagency training is a hallmark of SARINZ and the development of the SAREX guidelines takes this philosophy and focus to a national level.

99% on track

All indications are that the increased uptake of SARINZ training is set to continue. With 2300 people going through courses in 2009 (in 2007 we delivered training to 1100 practitioners, so in two years we have doubled our reach), we have scheduled capability to cope with a similar increase this year.

One of the more pleasing aspects of this is the variety of people receiving SARINZ training --  while around 60% were LandSAR personnel, the remainder were from other emergency management sectors such as Civil Defence, 111 Responders, community organisations like NZ Scouts, private businesses and the education sector.

We like to think we are improving the operational performance of SAR practitioners. In a ringing endorsement you also think we are. Whilst the results are still being finalised it is clear that 95% of the 170 people who completed our performance survey believe SARINZ is holding true to its mission to help others save lives. This is up from 85% in 2008!

Furthermore, 99% of the practitioners who responded believe SARINZ activities and services DO improve operational performance in SAR (and increasingly all emergency response fields). We're justifiably pretty proud of these results.

Full details of the survey will be released in the next issue of HeadsUp; in the meantime if you see a SARINZ staff member be sure to congratulate them on a job well done.

'Collaborate or die'

David Shearer - CEO SARINZ

'Collaborate or die!' -- the 1980s war-cry of management guru Dr Tom Peters encouraging disparate organisations to work together.

Thankfully in our world, collaboration happens naturally at a range of levels.

Collaboration provides emergency response agencies with access to specialists and resources that many don't have. Through collaboration organisations can 'punch above their weight', increase their speed to respond and save lives.

We are entering the age of collaboration in training and SAR - no longer can organisations go it alone. We realise this and are forming strong partnerships throughout SAR, education and wider markets. A cornerstone of SARINZ is working 'beyond the individual' - a call to action also true for individuals, groups, agencies, organisations and countries. Tandem teaching is an example of this where trainees hear case studies about what really happens from practitioners who are Subject Matter Experts inside a properly constructed, nationally consistent and effective education framework.

As the SAREX, Antarctica and CIMS articles illustrate, successful emergency response is all about effective collaboration between individuals with different skill-sets and resources. We consider that it's no different when it comes to training where we encourage specialists from other agencies to get involved and help our facilitators.

2009 was a successful year for SARINZ but we don't want to be complacent. In 2010 and beyond continuing to collaborate and innovate will remain the stamp of SARINZ.

Board Talk

Mike Sheridan - Chairman

SARINZ has really found its feet in the last two years or so in the sense of reaching out beyond its single traditional market. It's all coming together, as they say.

From the board perspective, the major emphasis now is to apply the experiences of this past couple of years to our strategic planning for the next five years. We have a number of forums over the next two months dedicated to that planning process. These will involve feedback from practitioners, partners and stakeholders.

Interim indications from the 2010 stakeholder survey indicates that an overwhelming 95% plus believe that SARINZ is achieving its mission of helping others to save lives, confirming that we are on the right track. However, it's essential that the board works to ensure that the organisation is sufficiently resourced into the future. This will ensure we continue to provide excellent products and services that improve operational performance for those tasked to respond to emergencies - helping others save lives.

Volunteers -- We need you

We need the help of training coordinators around the country to ensure people in their region get the SARINZ training they require. In particular LandSAR volunteers are urged to contact their FSO or the LandSAR head office to ascertain what we can offer them.

Remember, the whole of New Zealand is SARINZ's 'SAR Group'. We have a staff of 14 whose job is to ensure people are trained to the highest appropriate level.

Every employee of SARINZ commits (on average) 15 days a year to community work (including SAR). We know that coordinating volunteer training can sometimes be a lonely and challenging job and we want to help where we possibly can. If in doubt call 0800 4 SARINZ.

Keeping Safe In Swiftwater course

Hokitika instructors Dean Arthur and Peter Kettering ran a pilot swiftwater course in the Tasman region in January. LandSAR staff and SAR practitioners who saw a video of it during the recent Instructor Forum got very excited about the prospect of putting all their people through it.

The videographer in this instance was SARINZ Programme Manager Rescue Grant Prattley who was there observing and who says Dean and Peter ran an excellent course.

The two-day course was neither a river crossing nor a river rescue one (though both subjects were covered to an extent) so much as a Personal Water Skills course to give people confidence handling situations around moving water.

Grant Prattley: "We call it Swiftwater Personal Skills. But it's really focused on the person's ability in and understanding of the environment they're working in. It's all about the interface with the water, being in the water and introducing basic rescue concepts so that people understand what they need to do before they get in the water."

It's also aimed at showing people the limits of their ability in swiftwater.

Day 1 was spent on the Pelorus River, with the first half of that day on the theory and behaviour of rivers and their catchments. That afternoon was spent on river equipment, crossings, stretchering and throw-bagging.

Next day they went to some real water in the Buller Gorge, where Grant reckons the river was running at about 80-90 cumecs, doing more of the above, looking at how normal tramping attire performs in river situations and doing a 'strainer swim'.

Attendees were 14 members of the Nelson USAR (Urban Search and Rescue) team who had requested such a course, and their feedback now has SARINZ looking at ways and means of offering the course an on ongoing basis from next season.

As they say, the queue starts over here ... Contact grant@sarinz.com for more details.

SARINZ now a PTE

Just in case you're confused, SARINZ has not become a Private Soldier (Pte) in the army, but in a truly ringing endorsement of what we have been doing for the last seven years, we have been granted NZQA registration as a Private Training Establishment (PTE).

Obviously, SARINZ does not have to be registered in order to provide education and training. However, we choose to be registered because NZQA registration is a national recognised standard of quality education that is also recognised in Australia, UK and South Africa. This status and our accompanying accreditation scope has been endorsed/supported by all key industry training organisations (e.g. FRSITO, Skills Active, NZITO, TPP...).

This recently attained registration by NZQA reflects the innovative approach we take to training.

SAR and the wider emergency response sector can now access a variety of National Qualifications Framework (NQF) approved unit standards (SARINZ can deliver and assess over 250 unit standards) and most importantly training that can be adjusted to meet individual training needs - accredited and non-accredited training, workshops, online and distance learning (to name a few).

On-the-job training and recognition of prior learning can now play a bigger part in SAR education and training. As we know, different groups require different needs. As a PTE SARINZ can assist to select the appropriate training for everyone's specific needs. As a result trainees may be eligible for nationally recognised (or even SARINZ specific) qualifications. This helps SARINZ ensure that the training we are providing is the best on offer, is of the highest standard and most importantly consistent throughout the country.

For more information about SARINZ accreditation scope and training options go to www.sarinz.com/training and follow the link to our NZQA provider details, or contact carl@sarinz.com.

Instructor profile

Tony Teeling

Department of Conservation Deputy Principal Rural Fire Officer in its Canterbury Conservancy, Tony Teeling brings a mountain of backcountry experience to his occasional role of SARINZ instructor.

Tony was a Wellington motor mechanic but in the late 1960s he had cut his teeth hunting and tramping in the Tararuas --  "... since I was about 12 years old, really."

What followed was the path of many outdoors-loving Kiwis, progressing from the bush to the tops at Ruapehu and Ngaruahoe, then club trips ("hard man stuff") down to places like Westland. He also went on a climbing trip in the Andes while still in Wellington. In 1981 he went on a climbing trip to Mount Cook "... and never left, really."

He worked at Mount Cook from 1981 to 1989 as a ranger the Department of Lands & Survey (which became DOC in 1987), working in gangs that undertook track and hut maintenance work but doubled as the alpine rescue team.

During those years and later he completed five deep-field trips to the Antarctic. He says got the jobs through the normal channels, but you'd have to think that a motor mechanic versed in high alpine rescue must have seemed pretty attractive to the Antarctic Division (of the DSIR as it was then).

He worked for the Kiwis twice and the US programme three times, doing what he calls "C-130 put-ins and pull-outs". "Basically there would be four of you with a couple of polar tents for six to eight weeks." Tony's job was to look after logistics, safety and mountaineering -- "...getting them home with their having achieved their science objectives."

In the early 1990s Tony and Jo moved to the Fairlie/Burkes Pass districts. While living in the latter, he built up a little business with draught horses and wagons in Burkes Pass. He also worked for the Mackenzie District Council as its Deputy Principal Rural Fire Officer, which was what led in 1997 to employment with DoC as its Senior Fire Control Officer/Deputy Principal Rural Fire Officer in the Canterbury conservancy.

Tony is a CIMS expert, having experienced the system firsthand as far afield as Antarctic and the USA.

"In 2000 the rural fire industry got the opportunity to send people to the US to the fires in the northwest, and number of us worked in very large incident management teams. There were upwards of 1000 people on the jobs and they had a fully expanded Incident Command System (the US term for what we call CIMS) in place.

"We get to apply CIMS reasonably regularly at a range of incident sizes right through to where we've got quite an expanded structure."

Staff profile

Kimberley ("Billy") Wallace Instructor - Rescue

Kim-billy, get it? Many don't, she says.

Billy has just joined SARINZ on a part-time basis, supplementing instruction hours with cleaning up gear after courses and marking papers. Methven-resident, she spends about one day a week in the Christchurch office.

Billy apologises for the "no particular order" in which she details her career, but one thing you can be assured of: there's very little office work in it.

She hails from Dunedin and is a geology graduate of Otago University. NZOIA-qualified as a mountaineering instructor, she worked on the Mount Cook search and rescue team from 2001 to 2003.

Since then she seems to have worked all over the place, anywhere she could indulge her love of the outdoors. That includes all sorts from working at the Hillary Outdoor Pursuit Centre in the North Island and ski-patrolling to field-guiding at Scott Base and various sub-Antarctic locations. She's worked in North America, having been to Canada "... four or five times" and most recently in the USA where she indulged her other love -- teaching --  with a teenaged audience.

You get a sense that SARINZ might just offer Billy a single outlet for all her skills and talents and she's warming to the prospect of a 'proper' job.

"I really enjoy educating people. I know that I'm good at it, and I'm really good with people and I enjoy travelling a lot so it's combining all of that with my rope skills and my search and rescue background.

"It's quite neat really.

"I'm excited about SARINZ, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to be easing into it with part-time work.

"I see SARINZ expanding a lot and I'm excited about the different avenues it offers -- its potential for growth is quite huge. I definitely see SARINZ going on into the future.

Instructor Forum 2010

The rather prosaic title belies the significance of this annual event. It is perhaps the only event on the calendar when arguably all the best academic and practical brains in the New Zealand SAR environment get together to thrash out ideas for improving the operational performance of their organisations. Its importance cannot be overstated. Here's SARINZ Training Designer Carl McOnie's take on the 2010 Instructor Forum:

In February SARINZ and TPP held their second instructor training forum to provide selected SAR practitioners and SARINZ instructors with the instructional knowledge, skills and attitudes required within New Zealand's unique emergency response and training environments.

More than 50 people attended the four-day event in Living Springs (Christchurch) - a 50% increase on last year!

A substantial part of the forum was given to the SARINZ programme managers to bring together their teams and concentrate on what is important to their programmes.

A considerable amount of time was spent discussing and refining the way courses are presented, the content and programme direction for the year. This should ensure courses in the coming year continue to be presented in a very professional manner -- the best result for the trainees, SAR and the subject.

The last part of the workshop gave groups the chance to up-skill in technical matters or discuss training issues that were important within SAR and associated emergency response sectors. Having so many Subject Matter Experts in one place at one time was too much of an opportunity to waste. A lot of very good information was shared, old initiatives re-energised and new projects formulated.

LandSAR NZ was represented by its CEO, National Training Coordinator and four Field Support Officers whose valuable input means SAR training remains consistent throughout New Zealand. Additional attendees from Department of Conservation, Rural Fire, FRSITO and importantly TPP further supports our collaborative approach to providing training solutions that improve operational performance.

This event sees us well set for the rest of the year. Skills have been refreshed, new tools are ready and a focus has been set. I personally feel recharged, focused and ready for the year ahead. Talk has already turned to what we will cover next year and how we can continue to improve. Though at this rate we will need to book AMI Stadium for next year's event (scheduled for first week in February 2011)!

CIMS in New Zealand

SARINZ is currently putting CIMS training in New Zealand under the microscope as part of a multi-faceted CIMS project.

The Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) in New Zealand is a system for managing the response to an incident involving multiple responding agencies - it can also be used within single agencies. Its developers based the system on North America's Incident Command System (ICS), which was developed in the 1970s, and other countries' adaptations of ICS, such as Australia's Australasian Inter-Service Incident Management System (AIMS), instituted in the 1980s.

Triggering the FEMA-mandated development of ICS in the USA -- applied nationally it's dubbed NIMS (National Incident Management System) -- was a major bushfire event in Southern California which resulted in loss of life and millions of dollars in property damage. A subsequent review of how the various emergency response sectors co-operated in fighting those fires identified a number of shortcomings, says SARINZ's SAR Leadership & Management Programme Manager, Pete Corbett.

"It had nothing to do with funding, availability of resources or tactical options; it was all about incident management and how the various responding agencies interacted with one another."

While it was also bushfires that drove the development in Australia, Pete says the catalyst in New Zealand was the Cave Creek tragedy in 1995. CIMS is now the agreed management system and structure for all emergency response and supporting agencies in this country.

"It's basically a set of principles and a structure, and it outlines the roles and responsibilities of the functional units within the structure."

"This year we initiated a project looking at the delivery of CIMS training. We were delivering CIMS training primarily to the land search sector but we identified that there was a void in the delivery of CIMS training for other industries so we've started looking at four key issues around CIMS as we see them."

We should stress that this project is not about looking at the CIMS system; as Pete says, there are plenty of other agencies doing that and that is not our mandate. The SARINZ project is purely about the delivery of CIMS training.

The first issue is a situational analysis of CIMS training, looking at the way industries or emergency sectors have implemented and applied CIMS, and it's also about the validation of training. In other words is CIMS training having a positive impact on operational effectiveness?

"We're also investigating, with support from industry, the development of optional e-learning capability for lower level CIMS training -- Level 2, which is the introductory CIMS unit standard."

Related to that is an investigation with FRSITO (Fire & Rescue Services Industry Training Organisation) of the development of Level 5 and 6 training resources.

"These unit standards have been on the framework for a number of years now but we haven't had the ability to deliver them because the assessment and instructional materials have yet to be developed."

A fourth area being investigated is whether CIMS might be applicable as a management structure for SARINZ itself.

"As an organisation we talk the talk in terms of delivering CIMS and other incident management training, but do we actually walk the talk? Have others done this and is it applicable to SARINZ?"

New offices at last

SARINZ has recently moved into more suitable premises. Located in Riccarton, they are substantially larger than the previously occupied 'dogbox' and represent a genuinely useful resource for training and meeting. With a classroom that holds 25 people, three breakout rooms and easy parking we are very keen for our partner outdoor and SAR organisations to make use of these rooms as required. Just contact Lynne at the office about our nominal charge and bookings.

While the general economic environment has been challenging for many, SARINZ has been able to take advantage of the softening in the commercial leasing market so our increase in office space (the entrance area is the same size as our entire previous downstairs office) is significantly greater (4 times!) than the increase in rental (same price as the last premises!) that we are paying at this stage.

Those working in the office are appreciating the more professional environment (including proper toilet locations!).

Our new address is

68 Mandeville St, PO Box 8829, Riccarton Christchurch, 8011.
Phone: 03 348 6654 Fax: 03 348 6678

What is a ROL?

A ROL is a student's Record of Learning. It is a summary of a student's records contained in the SARINZ student management system. The ROL lists all the courses a student has attended and the results achieved.

SARINZ will complete a mailout of ROLs every year in Feb/Mar.

If you have not received your 2010 ROL then please let us know your current email address and we will send it to you.

If you have any questions regarding the results on your ROL or need to update your contact details please send an email to toni@sarinz.com or ring the office.

CIMS in Antarctic

Last year SARINZ undertook a project for Antarctic New Zealand developing tools and resources for incident management down at Scott Base, and also from here in Christchurch.

In February, Pete Corbett travelled to Scott Base to deliver CIMS training to the 14-strong winter-over crew, along with some training about critical incident stress. He also delivered some search and rescue initial response training, especially for those involved in JASART (Joint Antarctic Search and Rescue Team) which included some of the Americans as well.

Pete was there for a week in early February; it was his first trip to the ice and it excited him greatly.

"I was the last summer event there and when I left I think there were only two or three of the summer crew left.

"Part of the visit was also about familiarisation. As a training provider it's pretty important for us to get a handle on the environments in which our stakeholders are working, and really the only way to get that in terms of the Antarctic is to go down there."

Part of the project was also talking to the Americans about how to enhance the interoperability between McMurdo and Scott Base and making recommendations to Antarctic New Zealand.

Pete says he's been an "armchair polar explorer" for many years and the opportunity to experience the place firsthand was memorable : "...being able to stand on top of Observation Hill, where some of Scott's men used to look out on a daily basis over the ice shelf toward White Island, expecting to see Scott and his companions return from the Pole , something that was never ever going to occur, was a poignant moment."

Research underway

As we flagged in the last issue, as part of our R&D partnership with NZOG, SARINZ has commissioned research into the impact population change will have on SAR resources and operations in the next 20 years.

The project is now underway, with Wellington-based company -- Recreation and Tourism Consulting being the successful project bidder. The guys doing the work are Bronek Kazmierow and Gordon Cessford, both of whom have spent many years as researchers in DOC. More recently Gordon has also had contract research roles at SPARC (Sport and Recreation NZ) and the Mountain Safety Council NZ.

Data is being sought from various organisations including the NZSAR Secretariat, Maritime NZ, New Zealand Police, Surf Life Saving, Coast Guard, Land Search and Rescue (NZ) and AREC. Gordon says the project is getting an encouraging level of support and advice, and that most of the initial information requested is already in.

"We are currently in the phase of data collection on SAR volunteer types and developing baseline profiles. We are also developing profiles of different types of SAR subjects," says Gordon.

"These profiles will be used along with New Zealand census data to project ahead to 2030. We're working with SARINZ and its partners to find out what the likely scenarios will be for SAR, both in terms of the types of incidents, and expected response needs."

"The project is aiming to help future SAR operations by predicting the implications of key trends, including things like demographic changes, and changing recreation patterns, tourism and technology," says Bronek.

Gordon says they are planning to wrap the job up in late May. He asks that if any HeadsUp readers are contacted by the researchers for input that a quick turnaround would certainly help ensure the project can be completed with the best content possible in the limited time available.

Searching the Searcher Cube

How is your ability to search affected by talking to other searchers, crossing obstacles, only looking ahead, looking at vegetation instead of through it?

SARINZ partner Emergency Response International (ERI) has explored a new way to approach searcher training. They outline ways to maximize efficiency and coverage, and thus the probability of detection (POD) for ground searchers in the field.

This is critical given there is a heavy emphasis on visual search in New Zealand and any gains in performance have the potential to positively influence search outcomes.

This is one of the most practicality-based articles written on searching. It gives an insight into human vision and detection.   Hunters might want to take note as well as it has implications for searching for game.

Click this link to access the SAR Spotlight Forum article presented by ERI: http://www.eri-online.com/SAR_SPOTLIGHT_FORUM.html

The Search for the Yeti

Similar to the search for the elusive Yeti the providing of student records by SARINZ has up until now been beyond elusive -- it's been non-existent (which is what sceptics would say about the Yeti). But finally we have proven the sceptics wrong.

Our exciting news is that a Record of Learning (ROL) has been sent out to all students with a current email address. We are very pleased with the positive response from students. Toni is presently updating details as they come through and once this is completed we will have a very up-to-date database. Please note that the mailout of ROLs will occur every year around Feb/Mar.

Once the updating is complete we will be establishing reporting facilities to provide information to groups on their members. We will let you know when this is up and running.

If you did not receive your ROL then please let us know your current email address and we will send it to you.

If you have any questions regarding the results on your ROL or need to update your contact details please send an email to toni@sarinz.com or ring the office.

So when next in the Himalayas keep your eyes peeled as anything is possible!

Margie, Lynne & Toni

Competition

What is SARINZ new address and phone number?

Answer this question correctly (the answer is in this edition of HeadsUp) and be in to win a copy of Urban Search: Managing Missing Person Searches in Urban Environments.

Send your answers to headsup@sarinz.com by 30th September.

Well done Daphane Smithers, Alan Bowering and James Pettengell who correctly answered the competition question from the last edition. Your prize (Initial Response Search Guide - search wheel) has been sent to you.