Teenagers pass emergency exercise

Maddison Cherrington, 17, braves a fireball as she extinguishes a blaze triggered by a mock plane crash. Photo / Peter de Graaf

Fifteen Mid-North teenagers have been put to the test in a large-scale exercise involving a mock plane crash, people lost in the bush, patients trapped in a car wreck and a massive fire.

The teens, aged 15-18 and from the Kawakawa-Moerewa area, had spent the previous six weekends with each of the emergency services, including Red Cross, Police, the Fire Service, Rural Fire, and Civil Defence.

Saturday's exercise was the climax of this year's Youth in Emergency Services (YES) programme and a chance for the trainees to put everything they had learned into practice.

Once the morning mist cleared, the teens were delivered by helicopter to the grounds of Moerewa's Affco meatworks where they were confronted by a blazing plane wreck. They had to put out the fire, assess and remove the injured passengers, then search for the missing pilot. He was found, hurt and disoriented, several hundred metres away in the bush.

Next the trainees were called to a car crash with four trapped people and lots of fake blood. They used the jaws of life to cut up the car, then carefully extricated the patients. Others tackled a fire in a giant stack of pallets simulating a collapsed building.

Sixteen-year-old Raiha Kopa, from Moerewa, said the day had taught her about teamwork, communication and adapting to new situations. Her favourite part was looking for the pilot and learning to communicate with the Search and Rescue base by radio.

"It was awesome. It was cool to find him."

Raiha said she was considering volunteering with the Kawakawa Fire Brigade.

The aim of the scheme, which is funded by the Ministry of Youth Development and was trialled last year in Kaikohe, is to get young people more involved in their communities and encourage them to volunteer.

Among those taking part was 18-year-old Parehuia Tito-Paraone, who started as a YES trainee last year and is now a member of the Kaikohe Fire Brigade. "It's really satisfying to know you can do stuff like this and help people who need it. I'd recommend it 100,000 per cent."