Mangawhai hosts action-packed Youth Emergency Services programme

WORDS & PHOTOS / JULIA WADE

Battling flames, smoke and injuries, a group of adventurous teenagers got to know first-hand what life was like in the emergency services during a day of traipsing cliffs in search of casualties, extinguishing fires from a burning plane and rescuing car wreck victims with the ‘jaws of life’.

Over the last three weeks, fifteen 16-19-year-olds, either locals or with ties to Mangawhai, have taken part in the annual Youth in Emergency Services (YES) programme, an event coordinated by Northland Civil Defence (NCD) and involving Fire and Emergency NZ, St John Ambulance, NZ Red Cross, Mangawhai Heads Volunteer Lifeguard Service (MHVLS) and NZ Police.

Put to the test
After receiving training from all the different agencies in firefighting, triage and first aid, land and water-based rescue, decision-making and teamwork, the participants, armed with their collective new skills, were put to the test on the final day, May 29, which saw them confronted by a variety of emergency scenarios, NCDs public information manager Murray Soljak says.

“It is the highlight of the programme… first they were at the Mangawhai Heads surf beach where they had to locate ‘casualties’ on both land and sea, and bring them back for a handover to St John,” he says. “Then they were taken by helicopter from Lincoln Park to a paddock in Black Swamp Road where there was a staged plane crash and ‘victims’, fires to be put out and a car accident…. although none of this was known to the participants until the day.”

First for Mangawhai
Funded by the Ministry of Youth Development, the recent YES event was the eighth programme to run in Northland since 2014 – with last year cancelled due to Covid – and the first for Mangawhai. Designed to strengthen the connection between young people and their communities as well as offer the chance to experience the challenges involved with emergency services, participants can also volunteer for a service of their choice at the formal graduation ceremony to be held in mid-June.

Northland’s YES co-ordinating work group spokesperson, Shona Morgan, says from the time the Mangawhai programme was first proposed, local emergency services showed strong support for the event.

“The support and interest from these groups has been outstanding as well as the group of young people who were very quick to step forward for new challenges,” she says. “A

number of the participants already had some experience with one or other of the emergency services, so those connections have been broadened and strengthened.”

Learning experience
Mangawhai Heads Volunteer Lifeguard Service (MHVLS) members Ben McCardle, Mikala Powel and MHVLS co-captain Neve Cunningham, say it was the desire for experience that led them to sign up to YES.

“It was great to learn about how to help people in danger,” Ben says. “Especially with search and rescue, I didn’t have any understanding of that until this course.”

Both Mikala and Neve were looking to expand their knowledge of the emergency services before they decided on joining an organisation, although Mikala says she enjoyed ‘all the experiences equally’.

Neve, who is leaning towards firefighting believes the programme will also help with her role with surf lifesaving, as she now knows how to deal with each service.

“The different scenarios have all been good, the agencies do the same method but differently which is cool as you can take out what you like.”

As it was Mangawhai’s first involvement with YES, MHVLS president Jon Drucker says organising the event had mixed emotions.

“We’ve been planning this since January, we’ve been excited to be involved but it’s also been a bit nerve-wracking to make this day happen,” he says. “However, our scenario went smoothly and the club members have really enjoyed the entire process, so I’m really happy with that.”

“The support and interest from these groups has been outstanding, as well as the group of young people who were very quick to step forward for new challenges.”