North Canterbury ramps up Civil Defence preparedness

Five days, five courses, four councils. When 26 eager trainees gathered in North Canterbury to be put through their paces recently, it wasn't for a new reality television series.

Instead, said Hurunui District Council Emergency Management Officer Allan Grigg, it was the result of a collaborative effort to boost Canterbury's ability to respond to the very real threat of a disaster situation.

Staff from Hurunui, Waimakariri and Selwyn district councils joined Environment Canterbury staff last week to be trained up, with a mix of theory and practical training, on how to respond in a Civil Defence emergency.

"The aim is to provide consistency in training around the country so that when disaster strikes, Emergency Operations Centres (EOC) can be set up quickly and seamlessly," Grigg said.

"An EOC is where we work together with other agencies to respond to an emergency. The people in the EOC cover a wide range of roles to support their communities with information, water and food, emergency accommodation, and coordinating emergency services.

"It’s too late to prepare an emergency response when the disaster is upon us. People need to be trained and ready to respond at any time."

Grigg said staff attending the courses ranged from those who were relatively new, with little experience in the Civil Defence space, to those who were seasoned campaigners.

Course trainer Ross Pringle, from ECan, and Grigg are both members of the New Zealand Emergency Management Assistance Team (NZEMAT), which is deployed to assist districts or regions in managing emergencies. Brennan Wiremu, Waimakariri District Council Emergency Management Advisor, along with Pringle and Grigg, are also members of Canterbury10 (C10), a regional version of NZEMAT. They were joined by Allan Wilson, a retired Emergency Management Officer and Local CDEM Controller from the West Coast.

“Events like the Canterbury earthquakes reinforce the value of having trained staff who are ready to respond. A lot of this training was reduced because of Covid, so it was important to get it rolled out again," Grigg said.

“Staff will go back to their councils with a good knowledge of Civil Defence processes.”

Grigg said all agencies and councils follow a national framework to manage incidents so volunteers can be immediately slotted into different roles with an understanding of their responsibilities.

“These range from Logistics and Intelligence, to Planning and Operations, and a range in between,” Grigg said.

While push-ups and planks weren't included in the training, staff from the four councils left feeling pumped and ready for action.