NOT OUT OF WOOD

Waikato Times, Volume 132, Issue 21982, 10 March 1943, Page 2

NOT OUT OF WOOD

PRECAUTIONS SERVICE EMPHASIS ON EFFICIENCY The necessity of maintaining the Emergency Precautions Services in an efficient condition was emphasised by Mr H. D. Caro, district controller and chairman of the Central Committee of the E.P.S., at a meeting of the Central Committee at Hamilton last night. “War conditions are subject to rapid changes, and though one does not anticipate that we will return to the position which obtained, say 12 months ago, nevertheless we are not yet out of the wood,” Mr Caro said. “To those who are inclined to think an emergency precautions service unnecessary I would say no thoughtful person is yet so confident that he would suggest we can afford to disband our coastal defence forces or pack away our anti-aircraft guns, and if these are necessary for cur security because of possible enemy action, our Emergency Precautions Service, which is concerned not only with clearing up the mess caused by an enemy but also with meeting troubles arising out of floods, fires and earthquakes, is even more essential. Constantly Under Review “Local activities are constantly under review by the executive and every effort is being made to improve the organisation and increase efficiency. To these ends we some time ago appointed at each area headquarters officer?- to represent the Central Committee. Their primary duty is to co-operate the activities of the unit leaders at those areas and see that the control room is kept informed of the progress of events in their areas. At the request of the Law and Order unit, to which they were earlier attached, the wardens have been established as a separate unit. “A special switch connected to the street lighting system has been installed at the fire station where men are on duty over the 24 hours cf each day to enable the lights to be promptly extinguished in the event of an emergency. Future Trials “In regard to trials, I regret there has been a good deal of criticism, and in some instances the people have been put to a lot of inconvenience. However, we want to do everything we can to minimise the trouble and inconvenience, and to this end the executive has agreed that on future occasions traffic passes will be available for issue by the Law and Order personnel to persons who might be seriously inconvenienced by delays, and so far as trials which are controlled locally are concerned it is our intention not to hold the public generally for more than 15 minutes between the sounding of the alarm and the all clear. “It should, however, be realised that we are far from free agents in this matter. Practice alarms may be initiated by other than the local controller, and in every case we have to secure approval from a higher authority before the all clear can be sounded. We propose to keep the number of occasions when the alarm is sounded down to the very minimum. Unfortunately it is not yet possible to do without them. Dispersal of Vehicles

“As a result of tests instituted on the occasion of the last practice by combined operations headquarters it has been decided that it is likely we will have some warning of an attack and that consequently any vehicles in what might be termed the vulnerable areas, are to be given the opportunity to travel outwards for a period of up to 15 minutes after the alarm sounds. Dispersal of the public, where practicable, from likely target areas has always been recommended as the most likely means of reducing casualties, and it is essential if the best results are to be achieved for the dispersal to be effected quickly and for citizens to maintain their domestic trench shelters in good order as these form our first line defence against air attack.