'I felt like I was in a different world': The medics and military behind the Whakaari/White Island rescue and recovery

Saturday, 5 December 2020

An NH90 heads towards Whakaari/White Island as part of the recovery team

Sergeant C is the senior medic with E Squadron, and was one of eight NZDF personnel who set foot on Whakaari/White Island as part of the recovery mission a year ago. He describes the surreal moment he stepped on to the island and realised achieving the task might be harder than expected.

I’m responsible for a team of medics who help respond to any critical emergencies, with regards to chemical, biological and radiological events.

That can extend to all hazardous environments, and any kind of explosive threat.

We provide medical support to the team that is rendering whatever the incident is safe. Because there is obviously inherent risk in doing that, we provide a safety net to them.

* Whakaari/White Island: weather hampers search for missing bodies

* Whakaari/White Island: Country stands still to remember volcano victims

* Whakaari/White Island: Gruelling recovery mission pushed soldiers 'past the limit'

My role on Whakaari was part of the eight-strong team that conducted the victim recovery, and successfully got six people off the island.

Three of the team were corps medics. We have a lot of training on ambulances, and in emergency departments, and ICUs. We go to critical incidents where sometimes people die, so we have exposure to that.

I was involved in the temporary morgue that was created after the Christchurch earthquake, as a very junior medic under training. The greater team does Disaster Victim Identification (DVI) training, and all of us have experience in doing casualty rescues as part of our normal training, to be able to rescue someone who has been critically injured.

The training is significant and it’s world class. We go overseas and cherry-pick what training we do.

At all times there was the realisation that we might not actually be able to go because the risk was too high, or sea states would have changed.

Once we were on HMNZS Wellington White Island was a pretty impressive sight. The sea wasn’t particularly friendly, and I felt that in my guts. But you could see it was reasonably choppy and it made for a pretty dramatic image of the island, which was smoking.

When we got on the island it felt surreal. The nature of the island meant there was a bit of a pause, so I had a look at what we were about to go into. The visibility wasn’t great, and the ground was very new, original. I felt like I was in a different world.

People have commented that the photos looked like we were on the moon and I guess that would be pretty accurate.

When we got there I felt the geothermal activity, just probably an hour or an hour and a half before that we got a final brief from GNS, and also from our commander about what we would experience, and any signs that things were turning south and another eruption was imminent.

You could see smoke billowing out. You couldn’t see the crater lake, but you could hear little pops and cracks, and for the first 10 minutes. They sort of startle you, but then you kind of forget about them – you kind of have to forget about them. You knew you were on something that was moving and shaking.

Planning for this, a lot of it came down to previous training that we’d done. This was a once in a lifetime thing.

The challenges we faced were basically all physical; throughout we had good communications, good decision-making, good command and control – we just struggled a lot with our expectation of the ground.

We experienced aggressive, undulating terrain that made it hard to move, especially once we got off the jetty and on to the island. The ground was boggy, you’d take a step into something that would look like your last step, and you’d just sink up to your knee. So you’d have to pull your leg out and you do that a couple of times and you become pretty fatigued. We also had issues identifying where we were going because all the ground looked the same.

We had good images about what we were going into, and where we were supposed to go, the path we needed to take, but it was all grey. There was no track, there weren’t many identifiable features.

The task was dynamic and new to us, but the process that we employ to get to the target, conduct logistics, conduct the planning, felt very familiar – even though we were going on a volcano.

We had to use specialist equipment, we’re all trained to work in hazardous environments. And this was no different.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, on board HMNZS Wellington, spoke with those involved in the Whakaari recovery operation in December 2019.

We had good support from GNS about what gases were or weren’t on the island, if there was enough oxygen to breathe.

Something that was surprising about the island, was just how physically difficult it was to get around. We were expecting it to be hard, we knew we were going to walking quite far with cumbersome equipment, carrying heavy weight, but we didn’t realise how poor the terrain was, and how much that would sap us. We only got to the point where we got all the equipment to our staging position, and we kind of looked at each other, and we were realised we were already half spent in reality, so things had to change to achieve the task, purely out of a fatigue issue.

There was about a 50 per cent likelihood of another event, and a six per cent chance that it was not survivable. Those risks were mitigated by a whole bunch of people I’ve never met.

We had helicopters surveying over our heads, we had GNS scientists looking at their data, we had a bunch of smart people making critical decisions, and they had critical decision points to be able to put us on the island, and continue to keep us on the island. The team knew that, they knew we weren’t just eight people walking around. We knew there was a huge effort behind us. We weren’t just being thrown in willy-nilly.

After the recovery, we got back to HMNZS Wellington, and were pretty fatigued, and that dictated most of our emotions. There wasn’t that much communication to each other.

I personally wasn’t aware that it was an international event, and I didn’t realise it would become a media event. This was only clear to me when the Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, flew on to the ship and wanted to speak to everyone. That obviously makes you feel like you have achieved something, which is nice.

And then the days and weeks after, it slowly became more and more clear that what we had done was special for the families, and it was special for the Whakatāne region and it was special for the iwi in the area because closure is pretty important. So being able to achieve that, or have a role in achieving that, was significant, and we saw that in the media afterwards.

Now that we’re a year later, the feeling towards it has definitely numbed, but the greater impact of it is more and more clear. Me personally, a year on, I’m proud of myself, I’m proud of the team – I’m actually incredibly proud of the team – we came together really well and the experience in this unit.

Working in dynamic environments came through whenever we faced challenges on the island. All the training we do, and the team does individually is vindicated because it’s been put in to practice. Everyone had to dig deep.

For the med team, I thought it was an important moment for us. We put in a lot of effort to achieve what was achieved.

Something that was profound was how well three services worked together – Army, Air Force, and Navy. All of them had huge efforts and a huge part in the success of this task.

I was really impressed by many aspects of HMNZS Wellington. The crew were up late with us getting our kit ready, they were up early morning, always willing to help. When we came off the island, the crew were there again asking if there was anything they wanted us to do. It was really appreciated. In particular, I want to credit the RHIB crew that ferried us from the ship to the island. They put in a lot of work, a lot of time, and they were also getting closer to the sharp end, and they were seeing a lot of risk as well.

They were really impressive, the way they handled themselves, and how professional they were was great. It allowed us to do our part of the job better, I feel. The whole thing felt really efficient. With regards to the Air Force, it’s always really nice having a helicopter hovering over your head, it feels like a bit of a safety blanket.

The way in which we interacted with them, to get the victims off the island and back to their families. Their part in it was as significant as every other part.

As to whether or not I would go on to the Island to do a similar task, I absolutely would. You have a sense of duty, especially when you sign up to work in emergency response, regardless of if you’re working with E squadron.

You’re fully aware of what you may be required to do, and that’s just part and parcel. You have to trust that your command chain, and the scientists will assess the risk, come up with the plan, and you rely on your training prior to be able to execute that plan. Everything else doesn’t really matter.

Aircrew from No.3 Squadron were involved in the tragic recovery mission. NH90 pilot, Flight Lieutenant Hamish Reichardt tells us his memories a year on from the disaster.

I was driving back to Ōhakea from an appointment at Linton when I heard the news.

My involvement started two days later when the Commanding Officer asked me to go up as the Air Liaison Officer to the DJIATF (Deployable Joint Inter-Agency Task Force).

We started forming a crew to help with the body recovery, and landed in Whakatāne on Thursday afternoon. When we arrived, we went to the council building and talked through a plan with NZ Police, the Maritime Liaison Officer and Explosive Ordnance Disposal team.

We are trained to deal with the unexpected, and we had the flying skills as well as the ability to work as a crew to effect the necessary transfer.

I was the Air Liaison Officer during the Kaikōura earthquake response, so I have had some experience working in an Emergency Operations Centre. It was good to see familiar faces from the Fire Service and Police when we walked in on Thursday evening.

On the morning of the mission the weather was nice, with the wind having changed to a westerly, which meant that the volcanic steam/gas was being blown down our access route to the extraction point. By mid-morning there had been a slight shift to a southwesterly direction meaning we had a clear run to the extraction point in between the regular 5-7 minute venting. The downside was this then left us with a bit of down drafting air and turbulence to complete the job.

We were watching the vent to make sure no major event occurred while we were in the crater. Other than that, we remained clear of the volcano, minimising our exposure. We had been given advice from the defence Medical Officer present and been briefed by volcanologists on the signs and risks involved.

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Nochete, facing camera, on board the HMNZS Wellington.

We didn’t expect the regular big venting to occur, but rather expected a constant smaller venting. This meant we had to think on our feet when we got there to come up with a plan. We had 2-3 minutes at a time to get into the extraction point and out again before we would be engulfed in cloud again. Apart from the hazardous gases the cloud contained, this would have meant a loss of hover reference with the ground, allowing a dangerous flight regime to develop very quickly.

Another challenge was operating with HMNZS Wellington, something I hadn’t done before. While I have operated with HMNZS Canterbury, the smaller Offshore Patrol Vessel presented its own challenges. The view from the pilot’s seat to beneath the aircraft is poor, meaning the hover references were not as easy to come by while over the ship.

We were aware of how close we were flying to an active volcano, and we took measures to ensure we were safe and could focus on the job at hand.

Following the recovery mission to HMNZS Wellington, we were also tasked with transferring the bodies to Whenuapai that afternoon.

I think the crew felt a massive sense of relief and pride knowing that we had conducted our part of the operation as safely and efficiently as we could. After what had been about a 24-hour build up, we were happy that part was over.

It is definitely a memorable experience and one that has stayed with me during the year. I am proud to have been involved, doing my part to assist with getting the deceased back to their loved ones.

Lieutenant Colonel Michael Nochete, right, assesses the Whakaari/White Island recovery plan with representatives from GNS Science and NZ Police.

A photograph of two yellow-suited soldiers in a sea of murky grey ash is a grim reminder of the Whakaari/White Island tragedy for Lieutenant Colonel Michael Nochete. The soldiers were part of his Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team walking through ash to recover six people who had died. Nochete was the on-scene commander for the recovery operation, and admits to feeling anxious during the recovery.

It was the first time in my career I had knowingly and consciously placed personnel under my command in harm’s way without me standing there with them. To be frank, it was an uncomfortable feeling.

The lead GNS volcanologist was predicting a 40 to 60 per cent chance of another eruption. The go/no go criteria was that there needed to remain a less than six per cent chance, or less, of death if an eruption was to occur in the three-hour window the EOD team was on the island. We had strategies in place to mitigate the risks, but the operation was not without risk.

The EOD team leader who went onto White Island was someone I had known my entire career. I know his family too. The what-ifs keep playing through your mind.

I worked mostly from HMNZS Wellington, which was operating just off White Island to ensure good visibility and communications.

I was lucky enough to have my Plans Officer, Lieutenant Commander Brad King, Royal New Zealand Navy, on the ship with me. He was monitoring the synchronisation matrix so could tell me if we were tracking well. If there were deviations from the plan, we were able to make decisions or calls on it.

I was more of a conduit among the other organisations involved, and I worked with the volcanologist and the police tracking the operation.

We’d identified quite early that, the environmental conditions meant we would need people trained in using long duration, closed-circuit breathing apparatus to recover the people who had died. They also had to be experienced in operating under stress. That’s why the EOD team was the best for the job.

It was a truly joint operation. The Air Force and Navy crews knew what they had to do, as did the EOD team and medical personnel.

The relief was palpable when we achieved what we had set out to do.

It was a very uncertain and complex environment, and looking back there was not a lot I think we could have done differently at the tactical level. It wasn’t perfect, but it was a good response in a bad situation.

There’s a procedural planning process we follow in the military and the depth of training we do helps us adapt. Even in a very complex and ambiguous environment we use the joint military appreciation process as a handrail to get to a plan. We can then adapt the plan based on time and context.

There is always time later to reflect on what could have been done better because continuous improvement is something we always focus on.

WHAT IS DJIATF?

The Deployable Joint Inter-Agency Task Force (DJIATF) is a unit within Headquarters Joint Forces that provides expeditionary operational command and control for joint, interagency and multi-national operations that contribute to the security of New Zealand and its interests.

It was established in 2011, and replaces what was largely an ad-hoc group of elements that would deploy for an event or activity. Its aim is to respond quickly with practised procedures and staff that can operate in complex environments at short notice.

Until recently it was providing command and control for Operation Protect, the NZDF’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic. That function has now been handed over to a new headquarters to enable DJIATF to prepare for the possibility of humanitarian aid and disaster relief operations that may happen in New Zealand and the Pacific over the high risk weather season.