Eight of us from Northland Civil Defence took part in exercise Phoenix – the main city-wide Civil Defence exercise this year – on 7 November 2009.
The exercise was based on a 7.6 magnitude earthquake centered under Petone and the Wellington Emergency Management Office kept us very busy. We were based at Northland School and responded to simulated incidents which ranged from a couple of confused unaccompanied children through to a leaking petrol station, looters, landslides and thirsty, hungry evacuees.
Afterwards we enjoyed a free lunch with other Civil Defence volunteers followed by a rescue demonstration and 4 rural fire fighters dropping out of a helicopter on ropes!
The exercise was fun, we learnt a lot and we are looking forward to the next one.
We always welcome new volunteers, so if this sounds interesting to you then please get in touch with us.
David
