Search & Rescue Resources

NLSAR have a hard working committee which over the last several years have led to an increase of resources through successful community grants and some sponsorship. This has included going throughout the community talking to and presenting a slideshow presentation which has resulted in purchase of some resource which include Swazi protective outdoor clothing, other hi-vis clothing, Garmin Mapping GPS’s, and a caravan.

It is still interesting to note that currently (Aug 2008), approx. 99% of the specialist cliff/cave rescue squad members gear is personally owned. This is an area, the committee are looking to address in the very near future.

Support from those organization listed on our ‘home’ and ‘donations’ pages are crucial to NLSAR effectiveness in search and rescue operations.

Visit our SAR Resources page

Latest News Updates (Links)

– NZ Police,
– NZ Land Search and Rescue,
– Maritime NZ Search & Rescue

Weather
– Metservice NZ
– MetVUW NZ
– Tide Prediction

Tutumoe and One Tree Point Callouts – SEPT 2008

Two SAR callouts both resulted in the missing parties being found while search and rescue were on-route.

Tutumoe Callout – Three teenagers ( 2 x 16yr old and 1 x 17yr old) were coming back down from the Tutumoe Range when they ran out of light.

Callout Two
48yr old female from the One Tree Point area near Marsden Point missing, concerns about safety & wellbeing. Last seen approx. 11:00am.

Attending a Regional SAREX (Search & Rescue Exercise) – through the eyes of a ‘newby’ – by Kim

Attending a Regional SAREX (Search & Rescue Exercise) – through the eyes of a ‘newby’ .

Preparing for a SAREX is always an exciting time, catching up with the guys and girls from around the North is always eventful.

The latest regional SAREX at Matakana was going to be challenging, and packing for an overnighter out in the bush was a new experience for me.

My job as part of the team was the map holder and navigator.

Foundation Rope Course – What was it like ? – by Aaron C

The day dawned crisp and clear, no wait it was drizzly and overcast.

Thank you for the real life training conditions!

The foundation Rope course held by SARINZ on the 30 & 31 August 2008 was the largest gathering of NSAR personnel for training purposes since the SAREX at Bland Bay, with a good mix of civilian and police members and with a splattering of FNSAR members thrown in for cultural diversity.

We began with a short classroom lesson on the fundamentals of handling rescue equipment and different uses etc and were quickly onto the hands on aspect of knot tying (and bends and hitches!).

I don’t think you will find a single person on the course that didn’t get a whole lot out of it and hasn’t come away extremely excited about being involved in Search and Rescue!

Missing Man Found – Kaiwaka

Missing Man Found ***

The discovery of a body has dashed hopes a Northland man was still alive. Friends of the man are devastated, saying they held on to hope he was still out there somewhere.

An extensive police search was conducted after Hyung Jun Cho, 28, vanished on December 9 last year.

His car was found down a bank 1km north of Kaiwaka, but there was no evidence that anyone had been injured in the crash. A farmer checking his stock found the body on the edge of a Department of Conservation reserve east of SH1 on Thursday morning and notified police.

Initial Contact Inquiry Form

Initial Contact Inquiry Form re Joining Northland Search and Rescue.

Northland Search and Rescue (NLSAR) are always interested in talking to people who may be keen to join us. The first step is to contact us and submitting this form.

After submission, you be contacted by one of our committee members to inform you of the next step.

NLSAR train every second Thursday evening of the month. These sessions vary considerably and practice skills include Navigation using Map & Compass, GPS, radio communications, search methods, tracking, first aid, caving, and rope skills. In addition, there is at least one full weekend annual search and rescue exercise (SAREX) and several SARINZ weekend training courses. Every member of NLSAR are expected to become proficient with an accepted set of base skills of a standard, and over time become SARINZ certified in Tracking (Track & Clue Awareness), Search Methods, and Outdoor First Aid as a minimum. This is typically at no, or minimal cost and the SARINZ modules count towards ‘New Zealand Diploma in Search’ qualification.

This is to be certain that our members have the knowledge, skills and experience required to effectively participate in a search or rescue operation and can therefore be relied on to operate efficiently and safely.

Northland Search and Rescue (NLSAR) are always interested in talking to people who may be keen to join us, support our group, or even promote who we are.

Prospective members are generally people who are over the age of eighteen years old, have an interest in the outdoors, have some level of fitness, a desire to help others, be able to work as part of a team, and above all, have values which include integrity, and honesty. There are a limited number of other support roles which does not require quite so high a level of fitness. NLSAR operate 24/7 (24hours/day 7 days/week), frequently in stormy arduous conditions in the middle of the night.

NLSAR are always keen to talk to those that are interested in supporting our quest to help others & save lives. We are a professional unpaid, not for profit, volunteer based search and rescue group that provides specialist skills to assist NZ Police save lives in any conditions, anywhere, anytime within Northland. We recognize those who support us by promoting them whenever we can.

Our team are the ones that frequently appear, do the job or task, and then disappear without recognition especially in the middle of the night in a storm. Our focus is on a quick successful resolution in the best way we can.