Who is REST?

Ready
The Rescue Emergency Support Team
(REST) is operated by the Palmerston Flood & when
North City Council as per the Civil Defence
Emergency Management Act 2002 in
Swiftwater
Rescues disaster
strikes!
accordance with the Ministry’s national
guidelines.

REST has been registered as a “NZ Response

Team” since 2004. This registration recognises
the team’s ability to provide emergency High
response anywhere within New Zealand if Angle
requested by an affected region. Rescues
Twice the Team has been a finalist in the CDEM
“Organisation of the Year” award and has been
the recipient of the “Operational Excellence”
award; as well as winning a number of rescue
competition trophies and Team Leader
Urban
awards.
Search
& Rescue

RESCUE EMERGENCY
SUPPORT TEAM

PALMERSTON NORTH
RESCUE EMERGENCY
SUPPORT TEAM
Palmerston North City Council
Private Bag 11034 | Palmerston North
PALMERSTON NORTH
rest@pncc.govt.nz
What Does REST Do?
REST members, who are all volunteers, provide
support to emergency services within the
Manawatu region for high angle rope rescue,
flood and storm response, and swift water
rescue. They also provide support to Palmerston
North’s Rural Fire Team and continue to maintain
a light Urban Search and Rescue (USAR)
capability.
REST operates two shifts and team members
are activated by a paging system via Palmerston
North City Council, or directly through the
emergency services communication centres.
As a support agency, REST responds from
their base within 20 minutes with a complete
technical rope and swift water rescue capability
(NFPA 1670 Technician level).
The Rescue Emergency Support
Team is an important part of
Palmerston North City Council’s
emergency response.
Being a Team Member
Volunteers must be committed and dedicated
to be selected for team membership. This
requires a volunteer to provide rescue support
for a minimum of 80 hours per year.
The team trains weekly and additional training
takes place on weekends to ensure their skills
are maintained at a high level of readiness.
They also attend Field Days and emergency
services displays to promote Civil Defence’s
“Get Ready, Get Thru” message.
By the time they complete their training
programme members will have completed
internationally recognised qualifications
such as NZQA National Certificates, Tertiary
Certificates and up to five industry certificates
in Rescue.