Last week KVH hosted a third emergency response training session, further upskilling industry personnel in the system used if and when we ever need to activate in an emergency response.

This continues the ongoing commitment towards industry readiness for events such as cyclones, volcanic eruptions and earthquakes, ensuring various people with various skills and experience are trained and become familiar with the planning and processes that would be put in place within the Coordinated Incident Management System (CIMS) we use should an industry emergency event be triggered.

Zespri, KVH and post-harvest were represented and KVH regional coordinators from Whangarei, Wanganui and Hawke's Bay also travelled to this training, representing an important link to growers in the regions.

Representatives from NZ Apples and Pears, NZ Wine and NZ Avocados also joined our kiwifruit industry attendees as an opportunity to share learnings across multiple sectors which may be involved simultaneously in a response.

Covered over the two days was how to create a strong induction process to support and encourage responders and set a positive tone for the response; tools for building situational awareness of complex emergency events; and the structure and roles of response teams and governance members.

Building an understanding of action plans, situation reports and being involved in incident management team meetings gave attendees some powerful engagement experience and built confidence in how they could play a key role in the support of industry response efforts to ensure all growers are well supported in times of need.