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Story: Search and rescue

All images and media

From page 1 - New Zealand search and rescue organisations

Police search for Wendy Mayes, 1961

Police search for Wendy Mayes, 1961

Man in a tie

The Rose Noelle inquiry

A map of the Antarctic and Pacific Oceans, from the equator in the north to Antarctica in the south

New Zealand’s search and rescue region (1st of 3)

Men standing and sitting on a snowy slope with wreckage around them

Erebus recovery operation (2nd of 3)

A man standing on a beach, surrounded by a boat and clothes, waving to someone high above him.

Marooned on a reef (3rd of 3)

A person in safety gear spraypainting words and numbers on a wall surrounded by building wreckage.

Training exercise

People in emergency uniforms gathered on the remains of a crushed building.

Urban search and rescue

A city street filled with rubble with a dog handler in safety equipment and dog on a lead.

'Cleared by dogs'

From page 2 - Who needs search and rescue?

People in orange safety gear and helmets huddle around a patient in the snow

A mountain rescue

A man in a woolly hat stands on front of a couple and their child, and a helicopter.

Newspaper headlines about rescue operations

Search and rescue reports

From page 3 - History

Long rowing boat pulled up on rocks surrounded by five men wearing life jackets.

An early lifeboat

Three men and one woman wearing tramping gear standing on a river bed

Missing trampers

A large group of people in wet weather clothing set off up a muddy road with a truck behind them.

Searching for a missing aircraft

A large group of people with tramping packs walk in a river, some carrying a stretcher

Carrying out Bill Bridge

Four men sit in front of computers with large maps displayed behind them

Rescue Coordination Centre

From page 4 - Volunteers

A large group of people in tramping clothing walk on a steep hill in fog.

Volunteers at work

A large group of people, wearing helmets and overalls, clustered in a muddy cave.

Cave search and rescue

An orange Coastguard boat with a blue boat labelled NZAS rescue anchored near land.

The Kotuku tragedy

An Australian cattle dog sits in the back of a ute with a man covered in mud.

Search dog and handler

A small plane labelled ‘Coastguard’ flies above a rescue boat and an overturned boat in the sea

Coastguard Air Patrol spotter plane

A woman talking into a radio, surrounded by electronic equipment and paper notes hanging on the wall.

From page 5 - Rescue equipment and techniques

Two people suspended on wires high above a churning sea and rocks

Rescuing the crew of the Wiltshire

Five men, one in a police uniform, holding a box.

Wellington’s first airborne life raft

A flying helicopter, with a man standing on its landing gear, and another balanced on a stretcher hanging below.

Two men seated in the bush in front of a radio and wires.

Radio communications (1st of 2)

Men crouching around a radio, one listening to a radio transmitter.

Radio equipment, 1989 (2nd of 2)

Man holding a yellow personal locator beacon.

Emergency beacon

How to cite this page:

Nancy Swarbrick and Dan Clearwater, 'All images and media', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/search-and-rescue/media (accessed 1 October 2023)

Story by Nancy Swarbrick and Dan Clearwater, published 24 Sep 2007, reviewed & revised 27 Jul 2023 with assistance from Dan Clearwater