Fire fighter told not to rescue people

1/11/2012 12:14:50 p.m.

Adrian wrote:

Well said Fred, all the experts and hero's appear after the event, everyone did their very best at the time, the aftershocks were immediate, ongoing and violent and people were in shock and scared. The big problem is too much red tape, procedures, process, who reports to who and getting a Health and Safety handbook out first. If we stand around and think about it too much we lose our body's natural survival mechanism in the saving the lives of others.

1/11/2012 8:41:39 a.m.

Kiwi wrote:

The best change for NZ that could come out of this inquiry is the establishment of an Independent Commissioner for Public and Workplace Safety. The victims of the CTV building disaster would then have not died in vain.

1/11/2012 8:10:58 a.m.

jan wrote:

ex fire officer is so right. those at or near the top keep getting circulated in the top jobs, all they are good at is paper shuffling. I think the law should be changed so that fire fighters are independant of the law when this type of disaster occurs. police have no more idea in fact probably less than firefighters in a situation like this. I doubt any one will be ever held accountable for this. But the worst thing which could happen now is if nothing is learned from this or if new procedures are taken on and they end up being worse than now.

1/11/2012 7:00:05 a.m.

Ex Fire Service Officer wrote:

Correction to my previous post - the Chair of the NZ Fire Service is now Wyatt Creech ex National MP and National party hack! Creech is equally unqualified to run a major emergency service as was Bazley - nothing but government head nodders who get a guaranteed meal ticket if they keep the cost of running these organisations to a minimum without due consideration to operational effectiveness and the safety of the public and their personnel! Time for another Royal Commission of Inquiry!

31/10/2012 10:48:40 p.m.

Ex Fire Service Officer wrote:

The gross (and unnecessary)loss of life at the CTV building is symptomatic of dysfunctional NZ government policy which includes allowing local government Councils to manage public safety issues and "yes" men and women to Manage critical public Emergency services in NZ! Case in point - what the F..k would Dame Margaret Bazley -Chair of the NZ Fire Service - know about preparing for and responding to an emergency like the CTV building - let me tell you - sweet F..k all!

31/10/2012 10:22:12 p.m.

Ex Fire Service Officer wrote:

Despite the disaster management scope of the Christchurch earthquake situation there is no reasonable excuse a NZ government emergency service organisation in this day and age can forward for placing front line emergency personnel in the overwhelming position emergency service personnel found themselves in with regard to the CTV building which resulted in mass loss of life because of poor management systems, poor training and poor resources - it is absolutely criminal negligence (and arguably a breach of local Occupational Health and Safety legislation). For example the NZ government has an official Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the US Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) which offers NZ emergency service and Civil Defence agencies virtually free advice and training in preparing for and responding to incidents like the CTV building collapse, fire and rescue situation! Questions need to be asked as to what practicable steps the NZ Fire Service and the CDEM agency Management (CDEM) organisation took to prepare for scenarios such as the CTV building emergency situation given the existence of the MOU with the US FEMA!

31/10/2012 7:11:51 p.m.

Fred wrote:

Don't be too hard on these guys. They were dealing with appaling situations that no one in NZ in recent times has been called on to deal with. They did their best at the time and that is all we can ask of them. Hindsight can be cruel.