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Auckland Response Team - South (NZ-RT23)

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United States
Ardmore, OK
Auckland Response Team - South (NZ-RT23)

Trained volunteer responders supporting communities during storms, flooding, and disasters.

From flood rescue to mass casualty incidents and collapsed buildings, we’re ready to help — keeping people safe, no matter what nature throws our way.

09/06/2026

Capability Spotlight | Command Unit 🚨

Our Command Unit provides NZ-RT23 with the capability to establish a fully mobile and self-sufficient Incident Control Point (ICP) wherever it is needed.

An Incident Control Point is the central location from which an incident is managed and coordinated. It provides a dedicated working environment for incident leadership to maintain situational awareness, coordinate personnel and resources, manage communications, record decisions and develop operational plans.

Designed to remain operational in disrupted and challenging environments, our Command Unit is equipped with:

☀️ Three solar panels
🔋 A large onboard battery system
⚡ Independent generator power
🛰️ Starlink satellite connectivity
📶 Cellular communications capability
📻 Radio communications and repeater capability
💻 Dedicated workspaces for incident coordination

These systems allow us to establish command, communications and connectivity even when conventional infrastructure is unavailable or unreliable. Its radio repeater can also help extend communications coverage for teams working across a wider operational area.

The Command Unit can support NZ-RT23 operations or provide an Incident Control Point for a multi-agency response, bringing key personnel together in one location and helping ensure the response remains coordinated, accountable and effective.

More than just a vehicle, it is a resilient mobile command and communications platform that allows us to bring an Incident Control Point directly to the incident. ❤️💪

09/03/2026

Want to help bring a major emergency exercise to life? 🚨

This October, NZ-RT23 will join New Zealand Response Teams - NZRT, emergency management personnel and partner agencies Fire and Emergency NZ, Hato Hone St John and New Zealand Police and more from across the North Island for Exercise Tri Force / Mahi Ngātahi, and we need your help!

Auckland Emergency Management is looking for around 160 volunteers to take part as role players throughout this large-scale emergency response exercise.

The exercise will simulate a severe weather event affecting multiple communities, with response teams working through scenarios involving:

🌧️ Flood and storm response
🚑 Mass-casualty incidents
🏠 Civil Defence Centre operations
🔍 Search and rescue
🌊 Water-based rescues
🧗 Heights and rubble-pile rescues

As a role player, you could be a member of the public waiting to be rescued, someone displaced by flooding, a resident seeking assistance at a Civil Defence Centre, or a patient involved in a mass-casualty scenario.

No previous experience is required. All role players will be briefed and matched with activities they are comfortable participating in.

📅 Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October 2026
📍 Meremere, Camp Adair in Hunua, and Wero Whitewater Park

Opportunities are available during the Saturday morning, Saturday afternoon and Sunday morning sessions.

🟢 Low to medium-risk role players

These roles include Civil Defence Centre and mass-casualty scenarios with a low level of physical risk.

Register here:
https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/zrDJQmQwzi

🍎 Lunch and snacks will be provided.
🚌 Volunteers will need to arrange their own transport; however, a shuttle between Manukau and Meremere will be available for those who need it.
🥾 Suitable clothing and closed-toe footwear will be required.

All activities will operate under strict health, safety and wellbeing procedures.

This is a fantastic opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at a major emergency response exercise, see specialist response teams in action and directly support training that helps keep our communities safe.

Please register using the appropriate link and share this opportunity with your friends, whānau and community! 🚨

09/01/2026

Light Rescue in action 🧱

Last night, our volunteers swapped the classroom for the rubble pile, tackling a realistic light rescue scenario designed to test their skills, teamwork and decision-making.

Faced with a simulated building collapse and reports of people trapped amongst the rubble, our team worked methodically to assess the scene, identify hazards, locate the patients and safely create access to them.

The exercise provided valuable hands-on experience in patient location, debris removal, stabilisation, safe lifting and moving techniques, and working effectively together in a challenging environment.

Scenarios like this help ensure our volunteers are ready to respond when severe weather, earthquakes or other emergencies cause damage within our communities.

A huge thank you to Vernon Developments for generously providing access to their site, and to everyone who volunteered to be a patient and helped make the scenario as realistic as possible.

A fantastic night of practical training and another opportunity to strengthen the capability of NZ-RT23!

💪🚨

08/31/2026

We’ve just wrapped up a fantastic couple of days of rope training with Rescue 3 New Zealand! 🧗‍♂️🪢

Over the two days, our volunteers developed their knowledge and practical skills for working safely around rope rescue environments. The training included plenty of hands-on learning, teamwork and problem-solving, helping strengthen our capability to operate safely and effectively during future rescue operations.

It was also great to have a few members of Auckland Response Team NZ-RT5 join us for the training!

A huge thank you to the Rescue 3 instructors for sharing their expertise and delivering another excellent course, and well done to everyone who took part! Every opportunity like this helps build a safer, stronger and more capable team. 💪❤️

08/29/2026

Another fantastic weekend of training alongside NZ-RT3! 🌊🚨

Last weekend, our volunteers joined NZ-RT3 for their Swiftwater and Flood Responder Course, delivered by Rescue 3 New Zealand. It was a brilliant opportunity for members of both teams to train together, share knowledge, build connections and strengthen our collective swiftwater response capability.

Working alongside other response teams is an incredibly valuable part of our training. It allows us to learn from one another, develop stronger working relationships and build the teamwork needed when we come together during real emergencies.

A huge thank you to NZ-RT3 for welcoming us onto their course and to the Rescue 3 instructors for delivering an engaging, challenging and rewarding weekend. We look forward to many more opportunities to train and work together! 🌊💪👏

08/24/2026

A few weeks ago, we had the immense privilege of celebrating several of our incredible volunteers who successfully earned their Swiftwater Responder and Swiftwater Technician qualifications! ❤️💪

These are no ordinary courses. They are physically demanding, highly practical and designed to push participants well outside their comfort zones. Our volunteers faced powerful, fast-moving water, challenging rescue scenarios and long days learning how to operate safely when conditions are unpredictable and the consequences are real.

From self-rescue and working as part of a coordinated team through to complex in-water rescues, these qualifications require courage, resilience, sound decision-making and complete trust in the people beside you. They are not easily earned, and every qualification represents an incredible amount of hard work and commitment. 🌊🛟

Each newly qualified Responder and Technician significantly strengthens our ability to support communities during flooding and water-related emergencies, both here in Auckland and wherever our team may be needed.

Please join us in giving them a massive congratulations! We are incredibly proud of everything they have achieved. 👏🎉

A huge thank you also goes to the instructors and support crews who challenged, encouraged and guided our people throughout their training. 🙌❤️

08/18/2026

Tonight we put the new ablutions trailer through its paces while strengthening our out-of-region deployment capability. 💪

Equipped with two toilets and two hot showers, this trailer is an important addition to our response capability. During extended deployments, teams may be working in areas where infrastructure is damaged, overwhelmed or unavailable. Having our own ablutions facilities means we can remain self-sufficient, look after the hygiene, health and wellbeing of our people, and avoid placing additional pressure on affected communities.

To make the training fun, we split into two teams and turned it into a friendly competition. Teams earned points for correctly identifying the trailer’s features, demonstrating the correct operating procedures, and successfully completing a reversing and positioning challenge.

With only 0.5 points separating the teams, it was an incredibly close contest! Team Alpha narrowly claimed the win and walked away with the ever-so-prestigious “Golden Scrubber” Trophy! 🏆🚽

08/15/2026

What a great day yesterday joining our friends from Auckland Response Team NZ-RT5 for a Helicopter Safety Course with Skywork Helicopters! 🚁

This training is incredibly important for our team, as helicopters can play a vital role during emergencies- particularly when responding to remote or hard-to-access areas, transporting personnel and equipment, and supporting evacuations and reconnaissance.

Understanding how to operate safely around aircraft, communicate effectively with flight crews, identify suitable landing zones, and manage hazards helps ensure our volunteers are prepared to work confidently and safely alongside aviation partners when it matters most.

A huge thank you to NZ-RT5 and Skywork Helicopters for having us along and delivering such a valuable and enjoyable day! ❤️

08/14/2026

Some views are worth stopping for. 🌅

A quiet moment at the end of the day, with the ute packed, gear ready, and another reminder of why we love getting out across Auckland.

Prepared for the difficult days- but still taking time to appreciate the good ones. ❤️

08/11/2026

When you think about emergency response equipment, a catering trailer probably isn’t the first thing that comes to mind.

But when an emergency stretches on for hours- or days- feeding people becomes pretty important.

NZ-RT23’s Catering Trailer gives us a mobile kitchen that can head out into the field and support wherever the need is.

That could mean providing a hot meal for our own volunteers after hours working in the cold, wet or middle of the night.

It could mean supporting people who have been evacuated from their homes at 2am, arriving at a Civil Defence Centre with little more than what they managed to grab on the way out.

Or it could mean feeding the people from our partner agencies who have been working alongside us throughout a long-running response.

🔥 Stoves
♨️ Convection ovens
🍟 Deep fryers
❄️ Fridges & freezers
🍽️ Catering and food preparation equipment

All packed into one trailer and ready to go where it’s needed.

Because emergency response isn’t always about ropes, rescue equipment and floodwater.

Sometimes it’s something much simpler:

A warm meal, a hot drink and someone looking after you when you’ve had a really rough night. ❤️

Whether we’re supporting our own people, our partner agencies or members of our community, it’s another tool that helps NZ-RT23 look after people when it matters most.

Address

Papakura
Ardmore, OK

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