Blog - ISAR

Today was spent with teams going out on foot into different parts of the central business district to clear buildings and rubble piles that hadn't yet be searched properly. It was a beautiful sunny day but quite hot given the task we had. I went out with South Wales and...

Had a great sleep last night. Amazing how comfortable my sleeping mat has become! We heard that a female body was recovered this morning, the thirteenth that our team has found. Adam went out this morning to take over from Dave. The medical team left this afternoon. I wondered how...

Up around 0900hrs and spent most of the day doing admin. Quite windy, but sunny and pleasant temperature. Had a good chat to Dave coming off duty and Iain. Quite a tough night last night for everyone in moving the three bodies. A number of people starting to show signs...

Slept well and had the prospect of not going back on duty until 1800hrs again - luxury! Still getting regular aftershocks which everyone is now quite used to. I got 'suited and booted' and headed down to the site late morning as I'd heard that the top part of the...

Went out at 0200hrs. Not a great deal of sleep so quite tired. After further searching, the team conducted a formal seismic and acoustic search using DELSAR (Detection Electronic Listening Search and Rescue). Amazing piece of equipment and highly skilled operators doing 3-D searches of the building - now effectively...

The beginnings of a routine now, up and breakfasted then off to our site at six again. Iain, as the senior doc, is doing a stalwart job as BOO doc treating anyone who presents there and keeping a close eye on general well-being, health and welfare. Adam and I took...

Got up just after 4am and got kit together. Donned suit, boots and helmet in 'dirty' tent. Took daysack containing gloves, dust mask, camera gear, warm top (though temp around 17-20C), food, water and minor treatment kit. We walked to our allocated site which is only 5 minutes away on...

Lost track of time for a bit. About 12 hrs to LA, then 2 hrs while plane refuelled, then about 12 hrs to Auckland. Another short break then onto a 747 to fly to Christchurch. About 30 hours of constant travel, crossing the international date line - we arrived early...

Having sorted out all our kit last night at the rendezvous point, we were given accommodation in a local hotel. Bed about 0230 but slept well, getting up about 0800. After a bite of breakfast, the team leaders had a brief and then disseminated the information to the crews. We...

At 1251hrs local time in Christchurch, New Zealand, an earthquake occurred shallowly below the earth's surface with a magnitude of over 6 on the Richter scale. It struck around lunchtime when the city was full of people going about their business at lunchtime the city centre. Information was patchy but...