Hamilton SAR Group provides highly competent and operationally focused teams
that are well led, trained and equipped.
Elton has resigned from the group on a permanent basis because of other commitments and Gin is acting chairperson until the AGM. We are in the process of posting a job description and advertisement on Volunteering Waikato site. Anyone within the group who is interested may also apply.
Reminder for all those members with pagers. The first of every month a test message is sent out to ensure your pager is operational, if you do not receive this message you should contact Matt.
Contact Russell if there are any changes to your contact details so the callout list is updated. Change of email address also needs to be passed on to Jake for the newsletter.
Russell has received a supply of pack covers, there are mostly large ones left. If you don't get to the meeting please contact Russell if you'd like one.
Matthew King's probation period has been reviewed and his participation will not be progressed any further.
The Hamilton SAR Contact List is now on the website. You will need a username and password to access this part of the site. This will be provided at the meeting.
Land Search & Rescue have had a busy January and February in the Waikato Police District with callouts and trainings. In total we have had 9 full operations where land search and rescue groups have been deployed into the field. The operations ranged from Missing Children, Alzheimer's, medical evacuations to despondents.
These operations involved a good cross section of the SAR community including SERT paramedics, DOC, Westpac, Land SAR and local communities, all working together to achieve a common goal. As a result we have managed to save a life or two and assisted the rest to safety.
So I would like to take this opportunity to thank all the groups involved and reinforce that the time and effort you put into Search & Rescue makes a difference in the community. Without your help there would be fewer successful outcomes to such operations.
Good work and well done.
Dave Pitchford
February 29th a 55 year old female on Ohaupo Rd. Found at A&E shortly after teams were deployed.
February 29th a 25 year old male near Te Kuiti. Standdown came 15mins later.
February 29th a woman who suffered a miscarriage while tramping. Waikato Times acticle
March 9th a 21 year old male with autism in Te Awamutu. He has a Wandatrak pendent but had removed it. He was found by a patrol car travelling to Cambridge shortly after the first SAR teams were deployed.
At a recent computer expo, Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated, "If Ford had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving $25 cars that got 1,000 miles to the gallon.
In response to Bill's comments, Ford issued a press release stating:
If Ford had developed technology like Microsoft, we would all be driving cars with the following characteristics:
The calendar is now available at hsar.org.nz/calendar. This will be keep up to date so you can refer to it at any time.
