Coastguard Grabs Gongs

In rain or shine if there is an emergency on Lake Taupo you can guarantee that Coastguard Lake Taupo will be doing everything they can to ensure everyone’s safety. 

This has been the case for years and they finally have been rewarded for their hard work after being awarded the Coastguard Eastern Region Unit of the Year for the first time. 

The award recognised them as the best of the 17 units in the area, with marks awarded for aspects of their work including on-water efficiency and capability, along with levels of training. 

President of the Coastguard Lake Taupo team Gary West said they had been working hard over the past year to ensure everyone had their training up to date and checking they complied with all of Maritime New Zealand standards. 

Incident manager Don Scott was awarded the Volunteer of the Year award and the Communications and Incident Management Volunteer of the Year award. 

Scott said he had no idea he was up for the awards and was on holiday in Rarotonga at the time it was announced. 

‘‘One of my colleges rang me and I didn’t even know I was in for it.’’ West said he nominated Scott for the amazing work he had done. 

‘‘All of the stuff he does is under the radar and he has his hands in quite a few pies because people are [always] asking him to join groups and improve aspects like communication management.’’ Scott said he had been working on the communication side of the Coastguard for the past two years and finally felt like they had a great system in place. 

‘‘We’ve got to a point now where it’s almost nailed down.’’ The unit welcomes anyone wanting to join either as on-water crew, radio or incident management operations. 

Taupo Times, 19 September 2014