Urban Search and Rescue's lead dog trainer, Brenda Woolley talks about her 17 years of training dogs to step up in dangerous and chaotic situations - including in the aftermath of the 2011 Christchurch earthquakes. Her lifelong ability to build rapport with dogs, and spot which ones have potential to do the tough jobs, led to Brenda working in animal control for the Christchurch City Council - she and her husband Rex have run the Council's dog shelter for 29 years - before she got into Land Search and Rescue and later, Urban SAR. She has a QSM for services to Urban Search and Rescue. If you think your dog fits the requirements Brenda outlines in this interview, and you're keen to register your interest with Urban Search and Rescue, you can visit the team's website, http://www.usardogs.org.nz/
A photograph of an Urban Search and Rescue team member removing a framed picture from the wall of a flat on Poplar Street during the Residential Access Project. The project gave residents temporary access within the red-zone cordon in order to retrieve items from their homes.
Paul Burns is the task force leader of Urban Search and Rescue.
A photograph of equipment from the New Zealand Fire Service Urban Search and Rescue team on display in the Canterbury Quakes exhibition at the Canterbury Museum. The equipment was used during the emergency response to the 22 February 2011 earthquake.
Page 6 of Section A of the Christchurch Press, published on Friday 25 February 2011.
Page 5 of Section O of the Christchurch Press, published on Wednesday 23 February 2011.
A photograph of a member of the New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue team searching through the rubble of Ward's Brewery on Fitzgerald Avenue.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Damage control. Urban Search and Rescue team members liaise with safety officers in front of Blackwells department store in Kaiapoi".
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 28 February 2011 entitled, "Day 7, 2pm - inside the Christchurch cordon".
The USAR [Urban Search and Rescue] Teams wrote their findings on the doors when they finished their search of a building. This building was cleared by a team from Queensland, Australia on 27 February 2011.
An entry from Ruth Gardner's blog for 27 February 2011 entitled, "Day 6, 3pm - inside the Christchurch cordon".
A video about the training of search dogs for New Zealand Urban Search and Rescue (USAR). The video includes an interview with dog handler, Brenda Woolley, and Tim Drennan, the President of the New Zealand USAR Search Dog Association. Woolley talks about what they look for in search dogs, as well as how they train them. The video also includes footage of a dog being trained in the rubble from a demolished building in Christchurch.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue worker Barry Smith, from the USAR taskforce, at the NZ Fire Service Training Centre, Woolston, which is temporary home for 80 USAR staff from the North Island".
An article from Army News, March 2011 titled, "Sappers Show Their Expertise in a City Under Siege".
Page 3 of Section A of the Christchurch Press, published on Thursday 28 June 2012.
A video of an interview with New Zealand Fire Service Chief Executive and National Commander Paul Baxter, about the findings of the coronial inquest into the CTV building deaths. Coroner Gordon Matenga found that failures by the Fire Service and Urban Search and Rescue did not contribute to the deaths of eight students at the CTV site in the aftermath of the 22 February 2011 earthquake. Baxter talks about the importance of acknowledging the families of the deceased, and the changes and improvements that have been made by the New Zealand Fire Service since the collapse of the CTV building.
Page 2 of Section A of the Christchurch Press, published on Saturday 10 November 2012.
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
Photograph captioned by Fairfax, "Urban Search and Rescue workers remove the insides of the historic MLC building built in 1906 on the corner of Manchester/Hereford Streets. The seven storey building will be demolished as it is at risk of collapsing".
National Manager Special Operations, New Zealand Fire Service, who lead the Urban Search and Rescue Teams in the aftermath of the Christchurch earthquake. He then lead the New Zealand USAR team which travelled to Northern Japan to assist after the earthquake and tsunami there.