Surf Life Saving NZ National Search and Rescue Summit
Operational debriefs and lesson management were key themes of the three-day summit in Dunedin, which included a multi-agency marine SAREX.
The May 2022 event was the second National Search and Rescue Summit, organised by Surf Life Saving NZ (SLSNZ). Effective opera- tional debriefings and management of lessons learnt were key themes. This year, 24 SLSNZ SAR coordinators and senior SAR squad mem- bers attended, selected from applicants from across New Zealand. So far, at least half the SAR squads have had representatives at the National Summit, with the goal of 100% coverage by 2023.
Within Surf Life Saving NZ (SLSNZ), there are 40 Search and Rescue Squads. Each responds to call-outs within coastal, river and floodwater environments, in addition to their normal beach lifeguarding duties. At the Summit, conferences and workshops balanced the Marine SAREX on the middle day. Topics covered included peer support, communications, flood response strategies, search methods and the Emily B Drifter Project. Named after Emily Branje, a nine-year-old girl who was swept out to sea in 2019, the drifters are devices that can be placed in the water to record real-time drift patterns using live GPS tracking, helping local SAR teams to narrow the potential search area. Half the presentations were reviews of past SAR operations, reinforcing the operational debriefs and lessons management focus. On the middle day, over 60 SAR personnel from seven different agencies participated in a joint Marine SAREX, with up to 12 vessels operating throughout the Otago Harbour and Peninsula.
During Operation Marakopa in September 2021, SLSNZ Search and Rescue Squads from Taranaki, Raglan and Mount Maunganui transported all the necessary equipment over three hours away from their home bases. During the SAREX, the same agencies came together again, reinforcing lessons on interoperability, remote deployments, and communications.
Several Inflatable Rescue Boats (IRB) can be stacked on a trailer for efficient road transport, and they can also be disassembled and deflated for transport by helicopter sling-load. Air-transportability was first trialed during a Marine SAREX in Milford Sound by the Otago SAR Squad earlier in 2022. At the Summit, eight IRB were deployed to a remote beach, and in 37 minutes, all were operational on the water. The debrief highlighted two extra time-saving strategies, which will be incorporated into the national SOPs. This capability is especially relevant for a mass rescue situation where there are no viable marine assets able to respond in time.
In the last year, SLSNZ SAR Squads responded to more than six flood response and river rescue situations all around the country. As cli- mate change effects continue to grow, this is expected to increase. To better prepare the squads to operate in these environments, SLSNZ has begun developing learning material and courses to equip the squads.
Three activities focused on river and flood response this year at the Summit. Firstly, was an operational review from flood res- cues undertaken by Mairangi Bay and Muriwai SAR Squads in West Auckland. Allan Mundy, the SLSNZ SAR Manager, presented on the current challenges of accepting taskings from organisations such as Civil Defence and Emergency Management and Fire Emergency New Zealand. Discussion was also held on issues surrounding cost recovery and insurance cover for equipment and personal items. On the water, training workshops for specific techniques were carried out to spread the practical learnings to squads around the country.
The second Surf Life Saving NZ National Search and Rescue Summit was highly successful, improving standardisation for near- shore rescue operations through improved operational debriefings and lessons management.
This article was first published in the September 2022 issue of Link Magazine.