Remutaka Operational Support Unit (OSU) provide emergency support to firefighters in the Hutt Valley and Wellington areas by utilising the following skills:
Traffic Control and Points Duties
> Fire and other emergencies almost always require some form of traffic management. Fire appliances are not small vehicles and simply having one parked outside a building may create a traffic hazard. Remutaka
Operational Support are often called upon to manage a traffic situation – measures including Stop/Go, Contraflow, full road closures (diversions), and Points Duty are used to keep traffic flowing as well as possible, and reduce the impact on the public at large whilst ensuring the safety of emergency responders. Crowd Control & Scene Safety
> Fire and Emergency NZ obviously have safety as a very high priority. The safety of firefighters, other emergency services personnel, and the public is an area of responsibility for Remutaka OSU - cordons, scene protection, and of course traffic-related issues being the major areas involved. Recommissioning & Crew Recovery
> Remutaka OSU play a key role in ensuring that crews are able to rest, recuperate, and then re-deploy when required. This can involve catering (whether simple refreshments or full meal service) and can also involve providing facilities for comfort purposes. The main focus here is the welfare of firefighters and other personnel that may require our support at the scene of an incident. Salvage
> Salvage is the term given to the art of saving property from fire, smoke and water damage that tends to go hand-in-hand with firefighting. Being a non-firefighting task, Remutaka OSU are trained to assist in the removal or relocation of personal property, as well as covering items of furniture, and electronics with salvage sheets if they cannot easily be removed. We also carry 2 AquaVac devices, which allow us to quickly remove water from a property in order to minimise the damage that this can cause. Scene Lighting
> Remutaka OSU carry a large number of battery and mains-powered lights, and can rapidly deploy these at fire incidents. This ensures that there is adequate lighting within buildings whose mains power may have been isolated as part of firefighting activities, which enables other firefighters to concentrate on other duties for which they are trained. First Aid
> All Remutaka OSU personnel are trained to the co-responder first aid level; this means we can provide emergency life-saving treatment until the arrival of (or in support of) local Ambulance personnel. Waterways Assistance
> Whilst we don't handle the nozzle/branch/delivery end of the hose all that often, managing a maze of hoses that leads from the hydrant to pump, and pump to firefighter can be quite labour intensive. Transport and Logistics
> One area that Operational Support is often valuable in, is transport and logistics. With appropriate training, support staff can move fire appliances and support vehicles around, either in emergency response conditions or as part of a brigade's business-as-usual requirements. Command, Control, and Communications Support
> Maintaining a clear command-and-control picture is very important; the senior officers charged with responsibility for an emergency situation need clear, accurate, and timely information, and to be able to get instructions out to their crews as quickly as possible. Remutaka OSU may fill roles at incidents such as runner, radio operator, or IT specialist.
