‘Quake’ test for Civil Defence

Press, 1 November 1982, Page 1

‘Quake’ test for Civil Defence

Christchurch’s Civil Defence organisation should be better prepared to cope with natural disasters, after a successful week-end exercise at Queen Elizabeth II Park. About 2000 people took part in the exercise, described as “the best thing to happen to : civil defence in Christchurch.” , Doctors, nurses, and administration staff were put to the test in the simulated aftemiath of an earthquake which left numerous “casualties” trapped in the park’s stadium. i The threat of a seismic sea wave, necessitating planning for an evacuation of the foreshore, was added to complicate the exercise scenario. During the exercise, emergency teams were advised by the North Canterbury Hospital Board' that it could not cope with the number of

“casualties,” which meant that an emergency medical unit had to be set up at Queen Elizabeth II Park. The exercise ran from 3 p.m. on Saturday Jo late yesterday afternoon, and a “power failure” on Saturday night forced rescue workers and medics to resort to torches and lanterns. , ‘ An Air Force helicopter used to carry “casualties” for treatment, added a touch qf- - realism to the exercise, as . . did a few real cases of hypothermia and asthma. Mr Wayne Rissmah, a Civil Defence training officer, described the exer-. cise as a 100 per cent success. He said it had shown that volunteers from the various Civil Defence sections in Christchurch and volunteer emergency groups could work together as a team.