HBCDEM Rapid Response volunteers Craig Goodson and Malcolm Lock securing a tarpaulin over the roof for their storm response training course. Photo / Ian Cooper
HBCDEM Rapid Response volunteers Craig Goodson and Malcolm Lock securing a tarpaulin over the roof for their storm response training course. Photo / Ian Cooper
Climbing over roofs and boarding up windows is just part of another training session for the specialist volunteers of Hawke's Bay's Civil Defence Emergency Management Group.
On Sunday, the HBCDEM Rapid Response volunteer team took to an unoccupied Kāinga Ora home scheduled for demolition that was donated to them fora storm response training course.
This is the latest in a series of unique training courses the Rapid Response volunteers have undergone over the past year.
They have included advanced and psychological first aid, four-wheel-drive emergency vehicle training, spontaneous volunteer co-ordination, aircraft safety, and flood response training, which involved practising water safety on the Mohaka River.
There are now several opportunities to join the HBCDEM Rapid Response volunteer team, as well as the specialist Welfare Response and Communications Response groups.
HBCDEM Rapid Response volunteer Craig Goodson has been involved in volunteering for more than 15 years, with six years in Hawke's Bay.
He said he got into volunteering because he wanted to be involved in helping with a natural disaster scenario.
"I know I want to get my hands dirty mucking in and helping out, so why not get the training and be with the team that can do it properly and be first up to help in a natural disaster."
He said the learning was really enjoyable and there was a good group of like-minded people to do it with.
The Hawke's Bay's Civil Defence Emergency Management Group Rapid Response volunteer team was donated an unoccupied Kāinga Ora home for training on Sunday. Photo / Ian Cooper
HBCDEM Rapid Response volunteer team leader Paula Nagy has been involved with emergency response for about 15 years and with the Hawke's Bay Rapid Response Team for about five years.
She said she was impressed by emergency responders and she wanted to be able to tackle unpredictable emergencies.
"I think as a mum and just as a member of the community, you want to be as prepared as possible and this is my way to be as prepared as possible.
"It's a way of feeling like I've got some control in a situation that can be quite uncontrollable"
She said the storm response exercise on Sunday was her favourite of all the exercises she had done so far.
"You get to do a bit of rope work and some work from heights, but you also get to play with some power tools, so it's got some good variety."
HBCDEM Operational Readiness team leader Edaan Lennan said Civil Defence Emergency Management is delivered through a series of partnerships, including iwi, local councils, emergency services, government agencies and the wider community.
"Volunteers are a vital component of this partnership. Having a team of trained, skilled volunteers drawn from the communities they serve improves the resilience of the whole community."
