“A SHIPWRECK HAS BEEN ARRANGED”

Wanganui Chronicle, 22 February 1949, Page 4

“A SHIPWRECK HAS BEEN ARRANGED”

Red Cross Camp To Be Held At Kai Iwi “This first annual Red Cross Training Camp for Wanganui promises to be a really outstanding success,” a senior officer of the Wanganui Centre told the "Chronicle” today. Preparations have gone ahead well, and the advance party, mainly of cadets will settle into camp at Kai Iwi Beach on Friday night. Theoretically, there has been an emergency call to Kai Iwi Beach—a boat lying in distress in heavy weather, liable to break up, with the seas too rough for lifeboats to be launched. Wanganui Red Cross is standing to, to deal with casualties that may come in. These casualties will be dealt with on Saturday and Sunday afte r further reinforcements arrive from Palmerston North, Raetihi and others from Wellington. The whole exercise is one ol "emergency.” The camp itself will be established on this basis, ihe 30 members being ready for alerts through Saturday night as well as having systematic training during the two days’ duration of the camp. Senior officers who attended the recent Red Cross 0001*56 at Wellington under Army control will be in charge of up-to-the-minute instruction of rescue work and transport of patients over rough hills, cliff and rivers. Attending the camp also, will be senior members of the Boy Scouts’ training in ambulance work and con-, Association who will round off their trol of emergency camps. The value of Red Cross in emergency has always been recognised in New Zealand, though taken for granted. As well as administering lhe emergency fund. Red Cross has developed bodies of men and women trained in every aspect of disaster work—first aid, relief, assistance in flood control, fire lighting, rescue work, mobile canteens, who are ready to travel to the site of any national disaster to co-operate with the local authorities. In Wanganui the training has a special significance from the areas of rough hill country over which aeroplanes tty daily. The loss of the National Airways ‘Kaka” showed that even the best found plane may crash in inaccessible country into which only trained parties have hopes of giving assistance. The training camp, though of only two days, will give excellent experience under field conditions likely to be met with at any time in practice.