Selwyn Times: January 27, 2021

Wednesday January 27 2021 Selwyn Times
OUR PEOPLE 11
training fire crews in Antarctica
That must have been a good
feeling, to have been able to
retrieve people who were alive
from the rubble?
Yes, and one of them, was the
last person we got out alive of
CTV. I oversaw the amputation
of his leg to get him out, (it was)
in consultation with ambulance,
paramedics, and we got a doctor
to do it.
How do you describe having
to make a decision like that.
Was that one of the most
challenging moments of your
career?
No, it was pretty simple when
you saw that was the only way he
was going to get out.
And that had a really happy
ending in that he survived.
Yes, and he went back to his
home in Japan.
What are your reflections on
the earthquake as we come up to
10 years since it happened?
A good group of us always
go to the memorial services (on
February 22) every year, family
ceremony in the morning. We are
invited to as USAR team leaders,
we have done it for the last nine
years (and will do the same
this year). There’s been quite a
few memories, we certainly did
everything we could, I believe,
and there are eight people
walking around today who
wouldn’t be.
How long ago did you join the
fire service?
Years ago. I was a 23-year-old,
I joined up in Matamata as a
volunteer, did that for about six
months, then joined Tauranga as
a career firefighter, did that for
three years, then transferred to
Christchurch. A, because it was
my home town and, B, because
being a metropolitan brigade it
was busier. And I’ve just come
through the ranks and gone from
firefighter to training officer, up
to senior station officer, which
is the highest operation rank,
and assistant area commander
and area commander. A lot of
my career has been involved in
training. I have come through
the ranks, went through as
a training officer, and lucky
‘Famous for their roasts!’
RESTAURANT & CAFÉ
Kid's SPECIAL
Two courses
Seniors SPECIAL
Two courses
enough to be involved with the
Antarctic training, to train fire
crews down there. So I’ve been
down to Antarctica three times,
at Scott Base.
Can you tell me about
yourself, your family, your
hobbies?
I have got two daughters,
their mum passed away in 2013.
The girls are 22 and 25. I have
a partner now. I have lived in
Lincoln for about six years. I like
to relax and play golf. Also we’ve
got a couple of syndicates that
own a thoroughbred horse . . . it’s
been just for fun. At the moment
we have just started a new one up,
I like the social side of it, getting
together, watching the horse,
and when it looks like you are
running through and winning.
What is your golf handicap?
At the moment it’s about 20, it’s
always stayed around there.
Do you have a goal to improve
it?
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No, it’s social, I would love to,
but (I’m being) realistic.
Has the nationwide FENZ
merging of rural and urban
brigades under way had any
effect on your role?
The merger is still ongoing
now. At the moment there is the
Canterbury area (my role) and
the metro area (Christchurch
metro role held by Dave
Stackhouse).There’s two area
commanders, so under the new
change that’s going to become
one district, there will be one
district manager, so my job
and his job are affected (they
will merge). So we will have to
reapply for that job. The district
manager will have metro and
Canterbury and he will also be
in charge of the rural brigades
that are out there too. The district
manager will look after the whole
area (Kaikoura to Dunsandel
including Christchurch Metro)
and then there will be some
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CONTRAST: Dave Berry
at the one-year memorial
event of the February 22,
2011, earthquake. (Above)
On the Antarctic ice.
group managers and they’ll look
after (a group of brigades each)
and that will be urban and rural
together.
Will you be applying for that
role?
Yes, it’s been advertised, so we
are waiting for the process to go
through.
Good luck, I hope you get it.
How will you feel if you don’t?
There will be a job, it’s not as
though I am going to lose the job.
It could be a group manager, or
the same level somewhere else.
What have been some of the
developments in recent years?
In 2019 I got invited to Italy,
they had a conference with
USAR United Nations, after
the Genoa bridge collapse, so
they flew me over to Italy to talk
about the earthquake. After the
Christchurch earthquake we got
classified by the United Nations,
so we can deploy at short notice
anywhere in the world, and be
self sufficient for 15 days so we
are not a burden on the country.
We have a drone team within
USAR, used for search and
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rescue and building assessments
and all that sort of stuff, and
hot-spotting for fires. Sitting in
my Rolleston office in USAR we
have 14-tonne of equipment that
can be deployed, heavy rescue
gear, hygiene, habitat, specialist
equipment of search cameras.
You must be dealing with
some traumatic situations
with events such as
earthquakes, as well as major
car crashes. What sort of
support systems are there for
personnel such as yourself and
how do you cope?
That’s why I normally go, to
make sure the team are alright,
and we offer them counselling
and support, that’s part of
the role. Then we bring in
counsellors. What we are doing
now is registering what crews
go to what accidents or fatals,
and after a certain period we go
to talk to them and see if they
need counseling or anything
like that. That (new system) is
happening now for career staff
and we are now moving that out.
(For myself) the partner wears a
wee bit of it. I have a chat to her,
and there’s a group of us (at work
to talk to as well, including) the
assistant area commander Mike
Johns.
You look like one of those
tough cookies who could handle
anything, although it must be
good that FENZ have that sort
of system?
Yes. We have a memorandum
of understanding with
ambulance to co-respond, we
have had some very traumatic
(incidents) that volunteers go to.
They joined to fight fires, and
all of a sudden (about two years
ago) they have been thrown into
this medical role. Some brigades
are first responders, others are
co-responders. Rolleston is a
first responder, they are the first
called out. We go to worst case
scenarios, we don’t go to patch
them up and be nice and have a
good result. We are always going
to a cardiac arrest and that sort of
thing, it takes a toll on the people
too. It’s been a big learning curve
for them really.
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