New Zealand Search and Rescue Services

The New Zealand Police co-ordinate search and rescue activities in New Zealand for Category One searches, which are coordinated at a local level and include:

  • land searches
  • subterranean searches (for missing cavers)
  • river, lake and inland waterway searches
  • close-to-shore marine searches - usually within New Zealand territorial waters (12 nautical miles).
These searches usually involve local resources and people who are familiar with the local area so the search can be carried out efficiently and effectively.

New Zealand Police manage over 1800 land and marine search and rescue incidents each year. 

Police officers in each district are trained as Search and Rescue (SAR) Co-ordinators. They work with volunteer groups such as:
  • Coastguard New Zealand,
  • New Zealand Defence Force,
  • local rescue helicopters, 
  • Amateur Radio Emergency Corps(AREC)
  • New Zealand Land Search and Rescue (LandSAR), and
  • similar organisations.
     

The Rescue Co-ordination Centre New Zealand (RCCNZ) co-ordinates Category Two searches, which include:

  • searches for missing aircraft or aircraft in distress
  • off-shore marine searches within New Zealand's search and rescue region
  • searches for emergency locator beacons that have been activated.

Category Two searches usually require the use of national or international resouces and may involve coordination with other countries.
 

Useful websites