I have recently made a visit to the Police Region Six and attended a series of meetings. With snow in the streets of Dunedin (to see the yellow flowers of polyanthus poking up through the snow is different) it was a cold time but the overwhelming warmth of the southern hospitality made it all worth while. I attended the Dunedin District Committee AGM and Dinner which was also attended by most of the Region Six Representatives and their partners. On the Sunday I attended the Region Six Committee meeting and from there went on down to Owaka to be given a hard time on the inadequacies of the HF radios in the Catlins. I stayed at the home of John Galbreath and was fascinated to see some of his two thousand ewes being pregnancy scanned. When I told our daughter it cost 50 cents per ewe she said she was off to the local CHE to see why they charged over $80. As with the enterprising company that has started cheap flights to Australia perhaps there may be an opening here for an entrepreneur to buy a scanner. From there to a meeting in Invercargill then Queenstown, Cromwell and finally Wanaka. A few hours checking out the delights of cross country skiing on the Pisa Range and it was back to Dunedin and Wellington. In summary I travelled by car some 1200 kilometres, attended nine meetings or functions, spoke to over one hundred and fifty people, gave two news paper interviews and met a lot of really neat people.

The Training Subcommittee under the Chairmanship of Roscoe Tait recently held a meeting at Christchurch to consider the training it will provide over the next twelve months and how to stretch the budget to cover it all. With the Advisers Standards approved by the NZLSAR Committee an "Adviser Standards Workshop" will be held each month during the rest of the financial year. The Gisborne District Workshop with 21 attendees has just been held and preparations are in hand for one in Invercargill in October and Dunedin in November.

The ability to keep to this programme is very reliant on keeping to the budget so all avenues such as billeting, combining travel etc are being explored.

Also budgeted for and now in an advanced stage of reading and comment by a group of experts, is the Field Guide for Team Leaders and Team Members. While its release is still some time away, pressure is on to have it completed before the end of the financial year.

Graham Thorp and the Communications Subcommittee or CSC for short (I could get "OOS" just typing the name) will have its first meeting on the 7 October. The Agenda items include discussion on the NZLSAR structure and where other communication experts fit in, their budget and how to make it go the maximum distance, policy items such as Emergency Locator Transmitters, Standards for communication and operators and issues such as why HF radio is a problem in the Catlins.

This will be the first time the SubCommittee has sat down together and it looks to be an interesting meeting.

Murray Cullen and some members of his SubCommittee are taking another look at the Standards for the Alpine Cliff Rescue personnel. There has been in the past, a lot of thought gone into the ACR and the skills required in this field of SAR. He is at the stage of defining the skills as:- mountain and cliff rescue, outdoor first aid, avalanche awareness, helicopter awareness and management and control.

Standards are being researched with a view to being adopted, training required to meet those standards and the range of training providers is being investigated and an assessment panel is being considered as a regular check of team performance.

A seminar for ACR teaam leaders is being hald at the Porirua Police College on 24/25 November with the twofold purposer of some leadership training and a review of the proposed standards

On the 1st to 3rd of December a seminar on cold injuries was to be held in Christchurch and a sum of money has been set aside to send people to this. This seminar has now been canceled. The SubCommittee is looking at the possibilities of another organisation running this event.

I was recently given a pair of Seal Skinz socks (as advertised on TV) to try out. The statement on the front of the brochure said "No Matter What You Wade Into Your Feet Will Stay Dry" was interesting and brought back memories of a recent time in Nepal when walking on a narrow track behind several elephants that had obviously been on a high fibre diet. I have worn them on several occasions including three hours cross country skiing on the Pisa Range, a five hour walk in mud and snow on Mt Thomas and recently a very wet weekend trip into the Tararuas. My findings are:-

• With damp feet after the Mt Thomas walk and sopping wet feet within two hours of setting out into the Tararuas despite wearing the extra gaiters, they obviously didn’t keep my feet in any dryer condition that more ordinary socks would have.
• They are a little more difficult to wash in that both sides need to be attended to.
• They seem to take a lot longer to dry and need to be turned inside out to complete this process.

The good points included

• They are warmer than the socks I usually wear and on the Pisa Range I was comfortable in the foot department despite the very low temperatures.
• They are very comfortable to wear and do not bunch up or slide down into my boots.

In conclusion my feeling at over $40 a pair, they are a slightly expensive pair of tramping socks. Having said that if you are the sort of person who is difficult to buy presents for, you might like to give out a hint or two for a pair in your Christmas stocking.

• It was agreed to disburse $250 to each Regional Committee for minor expenses
• NZLSAR has become a member of Mountain Safety Council.
• The Committee continues its interest in the Ministry of Internal Affairs Emergency Services Review and letters to and from the Task Force were circulated within the Committee
• Police with support from NZLSAR have formulated a policy of assessment of volunteer search dogs and their handlers before being used on a search.
• NZLSAR has a number of papers on the Health and Safety Act which are available from the National Field Officer upon request.
• The question of NZLSAR becoming a map selling agency was discussed and it has been decided to approach Federated Mountain Clubs to see if we can pass on the business to them. All orders with the accompanying payment to this office at this stage. Prices are NZMS1 and NZMS260 $12.50 and for National or Forest Park maps $11.00. The discount available is the price mentioned minus for 1-19 maps a 25% discount and for 20 plus, a full 30% off the retail price is available. Hurry folks you don’t get offers like this every day
• The next meeting of the Committee is on 11 November 1995
• The Committee approved for sending to the NZLSAR AGM, the Annual Report, Financial Report and the Performance Assessment Report. These have now been sent to all the Region Secretaries for dissemination to the District Representatives. The Reports have been described as "a jolly good read" so see either your District Representative for a borrow or write to this office for a copy.

It is intended that a newsletter be sent out during the first week of every second month. I would like it to be a forum for all sides of the land SAR blanket - volunteers, professionals and the Police as the body responsible for SAR to have their thoughts or activities spread. Accordingly any articles on operations, SAREX’s or training sessions, things learnt or not known, items from the Internet, etc will be welcome. There may be some editorial shortening or rewording to keep us from the laws of liable but anything to do with SAR will be considered.