15/03/2011
The New Zealand Fire Service Urban Search and Rescue team is now in place in northern Japan and focused on the task ahead.
Team leader Fire Service National Manager of Special Operations, Jim Stuart-Black, says he and the Australian USAR taskforce leader and Japanese emergency officials are discussing their planned operations and will carry out a quick aerial reconnaissance of the Minamisanriku area shortly.
"The team morale is great and we are very focused on the work ahead. We are setting up our base of operations and preparing to begin searching for survivors," he said.
The NZ USAR team is well aware of the nuclear power plant issues emerging 130km south of their base. "We have good information on the situation and are being kept well informed of all developments. We also have our own equipment and are constantly monitoring the atmosphere. The radiation levels here are the normal background levels.
14/03/2011
The New Zealand Fire Service USAR team has been tasked to search for survivors in northern Japan following Friday's devastating earthquake and tsunami.
The team is made up of 46 USAR personnel supported by an additional five Defence staff and an MFAT representative (total 52).
The advance party which includes the NZ Fire Service National Manager Special Operations Jim Stuart-Black arrived yesterday afternoon (early evening NZ time). This group will be working in the Sendai area with the Australian, German and Swiss USAR teams. They are currently assembled at the USA military base at Yokota near Tokyo.
The remainder of the New Zealand team arrives at 16.37pm Tokyo time (8.37pm NZ time) and will also go first to the Yokota military base. From there they will be transported to Sendai where they will begin searching for survivors.
The Sendai area is about 130 kilometres away from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear facilities.
Jim Stuart-Black said "The team will be well outside the current evacuation area. As an added precaution, everyone went through refresher training in managing and monitoring radiation exposure before they left. We all also have protective suits and respirators with us."
The team is self sufficient and have taken food, bedding, tents and all their equipment with them.
12/03/2011
The first of the New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue team being sent to Japan will land in Narirta tomorrow afternoon (Sunday 18.30 Japan time).
Team leader, Fire Service National Director of Special Operations Jim Stuart-Black is among those to leave Auckland tonight.
"We are using a mix of Defence and commercial flights to get the bulk of the team to Japan and expect them to be on the ground within 48 hours of Japan accepting our offer of assistance," he said.
The logistics behind the movement of the 48 team members, their 15 tonnes of equipment, and making sure they all have the correct vaccinations and a full medical check are being worked through swiftly.
"There is a great deal to be done in a short time and we are pulling out all the stops with the assistance of Defence, Civil Defence and other agencies," he said.
Plans are being put in place for the second contingent of the taskforce, which is made up of USAR personnel largely from the North Island, to leave on an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland on Monday morning.