It has been five years since Turangi Search and Rescue was recognised at the TrustPower National Community Awards, and the group and its many volunteers are still doing what they do best – saving lives.

Turangi Search and Rescue was the Runner Up at the 2001 TrustPower National Community Awards, an honour they received after being named Supreme Winner at the TrustPower Taupo District Community Awards in 2000.

At the time of winning the Awards, Turangi Search and Rescue was made up of around 60 volunteers.  Today, the group has up to 70 volunteers including specialists in management, logistics, transport, searchers and, of course, the cooks who provide sustenance to the volunteers while they are working.

Turangi Search and Rescue Chairman Roger Bates says over the last few years life as a search and rescue volunteer has become busier as the number of call-outs has increased.  In 1997 Turangi Search and Rescue were called upon nine times.  Now, the volunteers are called out on average 20 times a year.

Roger Bates says this is due to an increase in the number of people undertaking activities in the Central Plateau region and a broadening of the types of situations Search and Rescue volunteers are asked to assist in.

“A few years ago we were just looking for lost trampers and hunters.  Now we look for lost trampers, mountain bikers, assist fishermen as well as looking for lost children and Alzheimer’s patients.  We have also been called in to help the police CIB who rely on search and rescue volunteers for specialist skills such as tracking,” says Roger.

To ensure the volunteers can best respond to these diversifying types of situations, the volunteers are now trained in lost person behaviour.

“What a lost three year old will do is very different to the way a lost Alzheimer’s patient will act.  Our training enables us to identify the tendencies of these different groups of people so we have the best possible chance of finding them safe and well,” says Roger.

Like many voluntary organisations, funding is an ongoing battle for Turangi Search and Rescue.  While the police provide the national Search and Rescue organisation with some funding, it certainly does not cover the real costs of running such a specialist unit. 

“As technology improves, so do our needs.  For instance, we are now starting to manage all our operations via computer, but to purchase such items we need funds,” says Roger.

Over the last 12 months Turangi Search and Rescue has raised $14,000 via grants, including a $12,000 grant from the Lion Foundation.  The money goes towards purchasing equipment such as headlamps, computer equipment, radios and clothing.  The money the group won at the TrustPower National Community Awards went towards the equipment the group bought that year, which included a comprehensive kit of outer shell storm protective clothing, sophisticated items such as binoculars and GPS’s and the purchasing of the group’s own radio repeater. 

ABOVE: These are members of the Turangi Search & Rescue Group early in the morning of Sunday 24th August 2003, camped in the saddle on the Tongariro Crossing at the base of Mt Ngauruhoe.  The team was alerted late on the Saturday night when a member of a climbing party had an asthma attack climbing Mt Ngauruhoe.  The climbing party were cold and wet and were starting to feel the effects of hypothermia.  The Turangi Search Teams with the help of a medic reached the party at 2:00am in the morning and stabilized the asthmatic and other team members assisted the rest of the group. 

BELOW: The team breaking camp at first light before the helicopter lifted them out to the Mangatepopo Carpark.  One factor that slowed the search was that the party did not have a map, therefore could not give an accurate location of where they were.

Despite the success of their fundraising, Turangi Search and Rescue’s volunteers still have to provide much of their own gear, such as boots and packs and have to cover other costs such as petrol.  As well as the financial cost, there is also an emotional side to volunteering for Search and Rescue.

“While our aim is to find people alive, that does not always happen.  Our volunteers have to deal with some pretty tragic circumstances, and that can be tough,” says Roger.

Volunteering for such an emergency organisation is also tough on the volunteers’ families, especially when a search may be required over the Christmas holiday period, as has happened in recent years.  Roger Bates says having the volunteers’ dedication and commitment recognised through the TrustPower Community Awards gave the volunteers and the organisation a tremendous boost.

“The TrustPower Community Awards also raised the profile of Search and Rescue, not just for Turangi but New Zealand wide.  The public now have a greater awareness of how Search and Rescue works in New Zealand and the integral part volunteers play in providing such an important, life saving service.”

To become a search and rescue volunteer you need to be fit and have basic bush craft skills, such as knowing how to cross a river and how to use a map and compass to name just a few.  Turangi Search and Rescue have access to NZQA approved courses which teach more specialist skills such as how to conduct a search , track a person through the bush or how to lower a stretcher down a bank, with around six organised  courses being run each year.

Roger Bates says while the Search and Rescue volunteers are always there if needed, there are some key guidelines people can follow to prevent getting lost.  They include always being prepared with adequate food and clothing, telling people of your intentions, accessing updated weather forecasts before departing and, if necessary, changing plans if the conditions are not favourable. 

“One of the places we are called to most often is the Tongariro Crossing.  It is an 18 kilometre track that goes up 1800 metres and many people are not prepared for the alpine conditions and challenges the track can pose,” says Roger.

If people do get into trouble, Roger says it is important they stay where they are and find a safe place to shelter.

Turangi Search and Rescue, in conjunction with Taupo Search and Rescue, was nominated again for the TrustPower Taupo District Community Awards in 2004, when they won the Health and Wellbeing category.

“I would encourage Search and Rescue organisations in other parts of the country to take part in the Trust Power Community Awards, to recognise your volunteers and to let the public know just how much work Search and Rescue volunteers do.”

For more information about Turangi Search and Rescue contact Roger Bates on 07 386 7588 or email him at rog.marg@xtra.co.nz .