For the first time in over 20 years, New Zealand Response Teams (NZRTs) from across the North Island will come together in Wellington to test their ability to respond to a large scale emergency event.

Exercise Poseidon is a 36-hour exercise based on a Wellington earthquake scenario. By coming to Wellington, the Response Teams will test their response capabilities and skills, their inter-team coordination and their ability to deploy to a different part of Aotearoa.

The exercise will take place from the 4th to 6th of October, with most activities occurring on Saturday the 5th. All of the Response Teams will be based out of Trentham Military Camp and perform activities at different locations across the Wellington region. These include Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington, Porirua Police College, Upper Hutt Community Corrections, New Zealand Campus of Innovation and Sport (NZCIS) the Town Hall and more.

Wellington Region Emergency Management Office (WREMO) Regional Manager, Jeremy Holmes says the exercise is a great opportunity for the Response Teams to come together and test their capabilities in responding to a realistic earthquake scenario.

“Working together as one team will be critical to helping support our communities after a disaster. To be able to put that into practice during peacetime is a significant step in enhancing our country’s response capabilities”, says Holmes.

NZRT members are qualified first responders who provide support to Civil Defence Emergency Management (CDEM) Groups and their communities during a disaster.

Made up entirely of volunteers, these teams train weekly to maintain their response capabilities. Response Teams can be deployed to help undertake a variety of tasks during an emergency response such as light rescue, reconnaissance, impact assessment, intelligence gathering, assisting evacuations, cordon and movement control, supporting Emergency Assistance Centres and community needs assessments, and water and rope rescue.

During the 2023 North Island Severe Weather Events, 190 NZRT volunteers deployed to regions affected by Cyclone Gabrielle, contributing 1290 days of work. Their efforts provided crucial support to affected communities across the North Island.

In other disasters, like a major earthquake, NZRTs would similarly be deployed across the country to support impacted areas. Throughout Exercise Poseidon, NZRTs will work together to practice the tasks they are likely to face in such an event.

Several partner agencies will also be participating in and supporting the exercise. These include the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Ministry for Primary Industries (MPI) with animal rescue teams including SPCA, HUHA and Massey University Veterinary Emergency Rescue Team, Fire and Emergency New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) teams, New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF), Wellington Free Ambulance, Rapid Relief Team, and staff from other CDEM Groups across the country.

“We are lucky to have such a wide range of partner agencies joining in to support this initiative,” says Holmes.

“Collaboration like this is critical to making sure we are on the same page when it really counts.”

Response Teams participating in the exercise include Auckland (NZ-RT3, NZ-RT5), Palmerston North (NZ-RT4), Bay of Plenty (NZ-RT16), Victoria University (NZ-RT7), Wellington (Wellington City NZ-RT8), Hutt City (NZ-RT18) and Upper Hutt (NZ-RT9). Hawke’s Bay Emergency Response Team (HBERT) will also be participating as they work towards their official NZRT accreditation.

The exercise is supported by role-playing volunteers from councils in the Wellington region, Fire and Emergency Operational Support Teams, Te Herenga Waka—Victoria University of Wellington Students and NZDF Cadets.

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