Seventy Police and civilian Search and Rescue volunteers will be honing their skills in the annual Wellington District SAREX in the Akatarawa Ranges this weekend.
Sergeant Jo Holden, head of Wellington Police Search and Rescue, says search management, clue awareness, tracking, patient recovery and treatment skills are included in the exercise which is being held in the area between Maungotukutuku Road and Rallywoods, behind Upper Hutt.
Search Headquarters will be set up at Rallywoods for the exercise that will start tomorrow afternoon, Friday 16 February, and conclude on Sunday afternoon, 18 February.
Sergeant Holden says a Royal New Zealand Air Force Iroquois will be used throughout the weekend to move teams around the area of the exercise.
"Participants will be set a variety of tasks and some teams will camp out overnight in the bush," she says. "Other users in the area should not be concerned if they see or hear a helicopter being deployed."
Police, land SAR volunteers and amateur radio operators will be taking part.
"The past 18 months have been a period of low operational tempo for Wellington Land SAR," advises Sergeant Holden. "With this in mind, the SAREX provides an opportunity to test our knowledge and practice skills to enable us to provide an even better operation for people who need us when they strike trouble."
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