Murchison community ready to respond
Murchison community ready to respond
The township of Murchison now has its own Community Response Plan to deal with major emergencies that arise.
The community is on a main transport route, has a large influx of tourists all year round, and is prone to being isolated during events such as heavy rain, snow or slips. Murchison of course has experience of civil defence emergencies, notably the 1929 earthquake which measured 7.8 on the Richter scale and killed 17 people. More recently a snowstorm isolated the community for a fortnight, cutting all communication lines, power and roads.
Testing readiness
Paul Blackham, Ken Connor, and Braden Holland 'rescue' someone during the Murchison exercise.
To ensure the readiness of civil defence in Murchison the new plan was tested on Waitangi weekend, with activities involving around 45 people. The Exercise was be led by the Local Controller for Civil Defence in Murchison, Gary Blackburn. Gary was supported by an extensive team from many agencies including the Murchison Volunteer Fire Brigade, Police, St John Ambulance, the Nelson Tasman Emergency Management Office and volunteers from the community.
The first part of the Exercise activated the civil defence “Emergency Operations Centre”. This tested procedures, radio communications and other equipment. During this time strategies were worked out to deal with expected operational challenges, such as how to communicate with people in surrounding valleys or what volunteers could be called up on to staff the EOC.
In addition, the Murchison Welfare Team, led by local Welfare Manager Dot Bradley, set up a Welfare Centre at the Murchison Recreation Centre. Dot was assisted by a team of local volunteers. This tested how a Welfare Centre could be set up, what services to provide and how communication will take place. Standard Operating procedures were developed during the Exercise.
Exercise Milo
At the same time, “Exercise Milo” was run by the Nelson Tasman civil defence emergency response team, NZ RT2. A mock motor vehicle crash down a bank was the site for a co-ordinated multi-agency exercise. Following this a joint exercise took place with St John and NZ RT2. Twenty ‘patients’ drawn from the local community were placed in strategic positions with a variety of injuries ranging from trapped and crushed limbs to head injuries.
Overall the exercise weekend in Murchison was very successful and well supported by the local community, encouraging them to better prepare themselves for a civil defence emergency.