Disaster responders ‘grateful’ to be able to help

Response Team 2 members Dwayne Lohmann and Jen Fris say it’s a great initiative to be involved in. Photo: Max Frethey

From responding to floods, bushfires, and everything in between, Nelson Tasman’s volunteer frontline disaster responders say their work is incredibly rewarding. 

“You want to make sure you’re part of the community and able to help where you can,” says Jen Fris. “It’s nice to give something back.” 

For fifteen years, Jen has been a member of New Zealand Response Team 2 – the region’s specialist Civil Defence Emergency Management rescue team. 

She, along with the rest of the team, undergo rigorous fortnightly training to ensure they’re completely prepared for anything that could be thrown their way. 

“The training alone gives you an incredible skillset to not only take forward for the response work but also just in life in general,” says three-year member Dwayne Lohmann. 

Most recently, the team responded to the August weather event with members stationed both in Golden Bay and in Nelson, evacuating residents, managing cordons, performing reconnaissance on road infrastructure, protecting property, and generally checking in on the community. 

The team was also involved in the 2010 Canterbury earthquake, the 2011 Christchurch earthquake, the 2016 Kaikōura earthquake, the Pigeon Valley fire, storms like Cyclones Fehi and Gita, helped with the initial Covid-19 response, and even provides support at events like the Bay Dreams festival. 

“No one wants these events to happen,” Dwayne says. “But when they do, let’s be honest, it’s quite cool to… actually get out there and do what you’ve trained to do.” 

Two events stick out in Jen’s mind as reminders of why she’s been a team member for so long. The first and most recent event was the Pigeon Valley fire back in 2019. 

“I’m a veterinary nurse by day, so I really felt for our community because in the vet clinic that I work in, we were taking on people’s animals from evacuations and we were sending out vets to manage stock that were injured,” she says. 

“Then after hours I’d be going and helping with the people, driving through the valleys looking for fires. It was a really profound moment that this was actually our local community.” 

The other event was the Christchurch earthquake in 2011 when she was responding in the city’s CBD. 

“That is a completely impermissible situation to be in, you cannot just go and help in scenarios like that. You have to be trained and you have to be deployed to that area. I was really grateful I was in a team like that to be able to go and help.” 

Civil Defence is a massive agency and responds to wide range of issues around the country and so having a large team of dedicated volunteers is essential. 

To further safeguard against future events, Response Team 2 is currently recruiting new members for both their frontline responders and support team. 

An information evening is being held in the Tasman Emergency Management offices at 28 Oxford Street in Richmond on Wednesday 15 February from 5:30pm for anyone who is interested. For more information, you can call Jason Monopoli at 03 543 7291. 

Additional information and the application form can be found online at nzrt2.org. 

“If you’re even slightly inquisitive about what it is that we do, just give it a go,” Jen says. “There is no harm in joining a team like this.” 

Dwayne agrees, saying it’s a good team to be a part of.
“It becomes a bit like a family. We’ve got each other’s backs in some pretty interesting situations.” 

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