Cluing up our kids

Over 300 year 6 students got the shake down on what to do in emergency situations last week.

‘Clued Up Kids’, a nationwide programme run by Civil Defence, invited year 6 students from across the Whakatipu to learn how to handle various emergencies in an interactive way.

Students visited stalls set up by services such as police, St John, Fire and Emergency NZ, Land Search and Rescue, Te Whatu Ora — Health NZ, Queenstown council’s animal control team, Coastguard and AF8 (Alpine Fault Magnitude 8).

Civil Defence Queenstown emergency management adviser Craig Gibson (above) also taught the kids about the importance of having an emergency ‘go bag’ — a portable kit filled with things they’d need if they had to leave home in a hurry — while other activities included how to use an EpiPen to help someone in anaphylactic shock, crawling through a blow-up maze, simulating a house fire and an earthquake simulator.

— OLIVIA JUDD