Search scenario tests rescue teams

Andrew Chantrey of Police Search and Rescue, with Andy Daly of Land Search and Rescue, operating a WanderSearch tracker upstream along the Tukituki River.

In the first week of November, a party of three parked their vehicle at the end of Mill Road, Ashley Clinton.

They walked up the Tukituki River into the Ruahine Range hoping to get in some fishing. But by the Friday, when they were meant to be out, none of their friends or family had heard from them.

It’s a fairly common scenario, and thankfully in this case it’s just that .. a scenario devised by Land Search and Rescue, a yearly exercise to test and extend the capabilities of the search and rescue teams, from the incident management team to communications and tracking teams.

Each year the teams have to undergo two exercises of at least two days each; one marine search and one land search.

This most recent scenario took three days and involved 40 search and rescue volunteers from across Hawke’s Bay, including half a dozen from Central Hawke’s Bay, watched over by two specialist assessors.

The Incident Management Team working out of the HB Coastguard base.

In this scenario, designed and overseen by CHB Police officer Senior Constable Andy Walker, two of the party - Nick and Aaron - set off upstream to fish, while one - John, a visitor from Australia - set off downstream to establish a campsite.

Walker designed the scenario, liaised with DOC, Iwi and landowners to get access to the areas used, and extended invitations to other organisations including the Hawke’s Bay Rescue Helicopter to take part.

Walker also ended up laying a trail as one of the “lost parties” as the person who was meant to play the part of Jon had to pull out at the last minute.

“The ‘lost parties’ go in ahead of the teams and lay clues: footprints, notes in logbooks, food scraps. For John’s campsite, Charles Nairn at Unichem Waipukurau Pharmacy made me up a fake medication packet as a clue. The medication was for Alzheimer’s, which would be an important clue for searchers.

One of the Land Search and Rescue tracking teams working along the Tukituki River.

“Because John had Alzheimer’s I had him registered as wearing a WanderSearch tracker. These can be issued through Dementia HB and can also be used for persons with autism. I wanted to see how one of these trackers would work in a rural setting.

“In the field, the tracker worked well, but to make the scenario realistic I had John become hypothermic and take his clothes - and the tracker - off. This is a phenomenon called paradoxical undressing that often happens when people become hypothermic.”

Another clue that was laid was a brief message John had been able to get out to a family member “caught in river flash flood washed downstream going overland to car.”

This challenged the search team to follow John’s trail. Walker had left a raft beside the river, footprints and items of clothing for them to find and follow.

“There was also a realistic blood trail, as I left some of my own when I got hooked up in blackberry bushes. Unfortunately, it rained heavily overnight so some of my hard work - the footprints - were washed away.”

The exercise began on Friday afternoon, with the search teams all entering the field kitted out and ready to camp out overnight.

A search team climbs out of a stream, through blackberry, as they follow the trail left by a “missing person”.

“They have to go in with all their food and water, prepared to sleep under a fly in the bush. There’s also a strong element of fatigue management as they’re not allowed to search for more than 17 hours. They searched until 10pm and then started again on Saturday at 7am.

“There were vehicles, tracks, huts and campsites to process, and all information is relayed to the Incident Control Team who were operating out of HB Coastguard headquarters. We have to thoroughly test our communications as it’s a big challenge for us in Hawke’s Bay, our big gullies can make communications difficult.”

Along with HB Amateur Radio for communications, Land Search and Rescue can call on Surf Rescue to use inflatable rescue boats, the HB Jetboat club, and often uses drones.

There are also pre-plans made for the most popular routes, with instructions on the locations of car parks, tracks and huts. These can help searchers make a quick start.

While the two fishers who went upstream - volunteers from search and rescue in Tauranga and Auckland - were found safe and well by searchers by lunchtime on Sunday, the plastic dummy that played the role of John was found sadly deceased from hypothermia.

Walker says the shop dummy - kindly loaned by the Cranford Hospice Shop for the exercise - is now back in its former role, no worse for wear.

Andrew Chantrey and search team members “rescue” John the Cranford Hospice dummy, who unfortunately didn’t survive the exercise.

Walker says the training exercises are “stressful but good fun”.

“I have been alternating them between the Kaweka Range and the Ruahine Range, each time somewhere we haven’t been before, to test the communications in each area and to get to know the terrain. The teams also get to know one another and know their capabilities. We trust the search teams to find the clues and relay the information to the incident management team, who are in return trusted to assess the information and send the search teams to the right locations.”

After the exercise an informal debriefing was held, and a full report will be written up by the two out-of-district Police Search and Rescue assessors. This report will highlight both strengths and points to work on over the next 12 months.

Walker says thanks go to the landowners in the searched area, for allowing access over the properties.

“We also need more volunteers to join Search and Rescue. Anyone who is interested can contact Police, and we will be happy to talk to them about joining us.”