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Tsunami Alert
Chile Quake 8.8 - National Warning: Tsunami Threat.
To see the official Ministry of Civil Defence website click here
Major Earthquakes of 2009
On 15 July 2009 the largest earthquake to occur in New Zealand since the 1931 Napier earthquake struck remote Dusky Sound in the Fiordland region. With a magnitude of 7.8, the rupturing caused by the earthquake started at a depth of about 30 km and moved upwards and to the south,
MCDEM internal & external reviews on Tsunami response
Civil Defence Minister John Carter has released the reports of the internal and external reviews into the Ministry of Civil Defence’s response to the 30 September 2009 tsunami alert.
Follow the links to the two reports:
External Review of Tsunami Response (pdf)
Multi Agency CIMS
Our latest multi-agency CIMS (Co-Ordinated Incident Management System) course brought together people from a range of different organisations.
Tsunami hits Germany before New Zealand
International journalism student SABRINA DANKEL got a mysterious text message early today. She explains:
Supporting Our Leaders of Tomorrow.
Sharyn was a judge at the recent Science and Technology Fair held at Victoria University in Wellington
Wairarapa Train Derailed
About 300 Wellington rail commuters were taken home by bus after their train derailed on Thursday evening (23rd July 2009) and services were suspended.
The Wairarapa-bound train was derailed by a slip as it came out of a tunnel at Maymorn, 40km north of Wellington, about 6.17pm.
The locomotive and first carriage came off the tracks, but no one was injured.
Passengers were transferred to the rear three carriages and taken back to Upper Hutt where buses met them to complete the rest of their trip.
The New Zealand Weather Book
Being able to interpret existing weather conditions and weather forecasts are important skills when managing an emergency.
To be able to plan effectively in advance, we need to be able to recognise what the weather will bring in the next few hours and how this might impact upon the incident.
Training WCC Civil Defence Centre Volunteers
We recently ran a CIMS training session for the Civil Defence Centre Managers within the Wellington City Area. In a major disaster or emergency Civil Defence Centres are activated by these volunteers. The centres are situated in primary schools or other community locations like community centres.
The centres collect information about the impact of an emergency and inform the Wellington Emergency Management Office. There is very little equipment at Civil Defence Centres, so residents should plan to be self-sufficient.
Pandemic Planning
Paul attended a 5-day Health Planning Course for Civil Emergencies directed at Health professionals to develop strategies and plans for dealing with the impact to public health. Paul gained a lot of useful information that will enable him to work closely with health professionals on Pandemic planning. See available Pandemic & CIMS training.Your Beach Your Say
Sharyn facilitating one of a series of public meetings relating to reducing erosion on Wellington beaches.
Response Team Training
Sharyn and Paul were both involved in Exercise Pegasus held in Christchurch. This involved them assessing, acting as Safety Officers and debriefing aspects of the response team activities over a weekend. Many of New Zealand's registered Response Teams attended the exercise to test their skills and network with others. For further information contact
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USAR Training
Sharyn and Paul are both certified Urban Search and Rescue Awareness (USAR) Trainers. This training involves them training groups at both national and local levels. For several years they have been contracted to the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management to deliver these courses. For further information contact
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Flood Safety Training
Devereux-Blum Training works with community based response teams to deliver the "Rapid" Flood Safety, Flood Response package. Around 74% of all Civil Defence declared emergencies are due to flooding highlighting a need to train response teams for flood conditions.
This photo were taken while we were running the Flood Safety course for the Hutt City Council and the Wainuiomata Bush Fire Force. Thirteen keen participants enjoyed superb weather to take the mid winter plunge. Three trainers put them through their paces.
Sharyn - Keynote Speaker on CIMS
Sharyn recently delivered a keynote speech at a conference on Emergency Management in Wellington on the key competencies in CIMS (Coordinated Incident Management System). We now deliver CIMS training to a wide client group throughout New Zealand.Whilst Sharyn was delivering her speech Paul was mentoring a Logistics Manager in his role during a two day CIMS exercise by the Department of Conservation on an incursion of an Avian Influenza.
The purpose of the exercise was to enable the Department to respond to the threat of Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI) “bird flu” and manage the potential adverse impacts on threatened species.
The exercise focused on DOC's ability to manage, using the CIMS structure, their role in the pandemic working alongside MAF Biosecurity NZ.
Sharyn also delivered a keynote speech at the Ministry of Fisheries FishOps conference in Nelson. Sharyn used her facilitation skills for a morning with the group.
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USAR Awareness Trainers Course
A USAR Awareness Trainers course was held recently for people throughout the North Island. Those attending worked through the various requirements towards the qualification enabling them to train others in Urban Search and Rescue techniques. Here they are pictured during a lifting and cribbing exercise having been tasked with lifting a large block of concrete in a simulated emergency. Devereux-Blum Training are contracted to the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management as National Trainers and Assessors. For further information contact
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Food Safety in an Emergency
Being prepared for a disaster is crucial if you live in New Zealand. We are at the mercy of earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and possibly tsunamis. With winter on our doorstep, extreme weather can cause floods and storms. There are many things you can do to minimise the impact on your health before disaster strikes.
What's The Plan Stan
Sharyn and Leanne recently attended a workshop run by the Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management to introduce the package "What's the Plan Stan. This teaching resource for primary schools is aimed at promoting, understanding and planning for disasters.
This resource with curriculum linked ideas and activities in teaching programmes is a resource that Sharyn and Paul who are both trained teachers with current registration are looking forward to promoting. For further information contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
School Evacuation Exercise
Leanne and Derek recently had the opportunity to observe a local primary school practice evacuation. For the first whole school evacuation it was well organised and ran very smoothly. We were impressed with the process of collection once parents/caregivers had arrived at school. We find the "What's the Plan Stan" a great resource and encourage all schools to use it where they can. Two of our team are registered teachers so we appreciated the opportunity to visit a school and see readiness in emergency management in action.
Team Professional Development. We are continually looking for ways to enhance our team's professional development and had the opportunity to partake in a 1 day course recently. We all found the course to be extremely useful for ideas to add into our training. It was great for us all to be able to partake in all of the activities and be able to feedback to each other what we thought of the content and relevance of the activity to our training.
Magazine Articles. The team has been approached by several national magazines to write feature articles for them. It is a great opportunity to pass on information regarding Emergency Preparedness for both at home and at work. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Earthquake and Tsunami Exercise - Nelson
In November we attended a two day Rescue exercise held in the Nelson region. The scenario was an earthquake that had hit the region and a backpackers’ hostel had collapsed.
The Upper Hutt Community Response team from the North Island and two South Island teams from Christchurch & Nelson responded. A large group of casualties were involved in the exercise. Paul and Sharyn acted as Incident Controller and Planning Intelligence Officer respectively for most of Saturday. Leanne assisted in a support role to the Incident Management team and Derek was actively involved with his Rescue team.
It was great to have the opportunity to put into practice all the skills and knowledge that we have in the team and to work with other response teams from around the country. The exercise provided a valuable opportunity to improve our state of readiness, practice our skills and learn from one another.
If you are interested in being involved in any future exercises or would like to run an exercise within your organisation contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
Exercise Back Blast
Emergencies within the community can occur at any time or place. Devereux-Blum Training & Development Limited, along with local and regional council worked collaboratively together to plan an exercise which tested the regional capability to respond to a large scale emergency in the Wellington region.
This exercise took twelve months to plan and was recently run over a twenty-four hour period with over one hundred people involved. The scenario for exercise ‘Back Blast’ was a massive storm, with lightening hitting large tanks holding volatile by-products of a gas processing plant. The worst impacted area was a local secondary school. The objective of the exercise was to respond to the incident and for the response teams to work together in the rescue environment.
Three people from Devereux-Blum Training & Development Limited were actively involved in the response working with the Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS). Paul & Sharyn (co-directors) were in key positions – Incident Controller and Planning & Intelligence with Leanne Brenchley assisting the Planning /Intelligence manager. Their role was to manage the emergency. This also included briefings to the mayor, media and other visitors coming onsite. If you are interested in being involved in any future exercises or would like to run an exercise within your organisation contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Exercise Cruickshank
Paul and Sharyn were involved in Exercise Cruickshank working alongside Health professionals from the Hutt Valley District Health Board in a National exercise.
The Ministry of Health held the nationwide influenza pandemic exercise involving all 21 District Health Boards, ESR and the Ministry of Health's National Health Coordination Centre.
Ministry staff and DHBs spent two days staging a scenario that involved "cluster control" or stamping out the pandemic before it could spread through the country.
If you are interested in being involved in any future exercises or would like to run an exercise within your organisation contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Storm Response Training
Devereux-Blum Training delivered four successful Storm Response courses for storm response teams in Wellington and Auckland. With the this years run of tornadoes in Taranaki, these skills are exactly those required to carry out improvised repairs to roofs, doors and windows following storm damage.
If you are interested in this type of training contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Education Conference 2008
Sharyn speaking at this years Teachers Conference as teachers prepare for their school year. The workshop focused on resiliency.
If you would like This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it to speak at a conference that you are planning please contact them.
Canada 2008
Paul and Sharyn recently visited Vancouver and Calgary in Canada to work with a corporate client and took the opportunity to visit a number of interestiing sites to further their knowledge of Incident Management (CIMS).
Here Paul is shown at a meeting with the coordinator of the Emergency Management Team in the EOC within one of Canada's larger hospitals.
Emergency Disposal of Sewage
Following a significant event, it is likely that the sewerage system (toilets and piping) will not be functioning due to no water supply and broken pipes. You need to plan for the sewerage system to be unavailable for at least 5 days, as it may take some time before local authorities can set up alternate arrangements, or for the sewerage system to be restored.Click on the following hyperlink for information: Emergency Disposal of Sewage
Influenza A (H1N1) Swine Flu-2009
Human cases of non-seasonal Influenza A (H1N1) 'swine flu' resulting from human to human transmission was identified in Mexico, in June 2009 with subsequent spread to many other countries.
The Ministry of Health is closely following international developments, and advice from the World Health Organization (WHO). CIMS is being used to manage this emergency across agencies.
Those wanting to keep up to date with the development of this flu can access the Ministry of Health's Website for the latest updates.
Automated Emergency Notification Solution
From 1 April 2009 Devereux-Blum Training & Development Limited is able to, as an authorised reseller to provide an automated emergency notification solution for emergency response groups, business continuity teams and disaster recovery planners throughout New Zealand and Australia. For more information click here or contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .
This service offers a viable solution to responding emergency response teams to an Incident Control Point (ICP) or Emergency Operations Centre (EOC)