Recently a Civil Defence training workshop was held in Fairlie with over 50 people attending from FENZ, Police, St John, Fairlie Lions, Fairlie Community welfare/civil defence response group, St Joseph Primary School, Fairlie Primary School, Mackenzie College, Community Heartlands Centre, Waimate District Council Civil Defence, Fulton Hogan, Mackenzie District Mayor and Counsellors, Mackenzie District Council staff.
This was the third in a series of workshops which have been held across the district.
Emergency Management Office Joe Rush described a potential scenario to everyone who then split into groups to work out how they would tackle the situation if it happened.
In the scenario a truck carrying liquid acetone in steel drums crashed into a 40-seater passenger bus at the intersection of Allandale Road and Mt Cook Road. There were multiple injuries and members of the public started to suffer symptoms relating to the chemical spill.
The three groups (which contained representatives from each agency and community group) had to identify who would be the lead agency in this scenario and work out what they would do, using their immediate local resources. Some of the things to consider were: how to evacuate people from the area, where to close roads, how to safely start dealing with the injured, what extra resources would be needed (and how to get them), and how to stay safe themselves in a dangerous situation.
They were also asked to plot a timeline showing the availability of the resources that were needed and attending.
Joe Rush was thrilled at the participation and support from the community response agencies and groups. “I’m impressed at the way everyone collaborated to solve problems in this really complex situation. It shows how powerful a community response can be in a time of crisis.
Previous workshops were held in Twizel/Aoraki Mt Cook (dealing with a localised flooding and avalanche event) and Lake Tekapo (where groups dealt with a wildfire on the Godley Peaks Road).