Phillip Melchior (59) became a member of the Wanaka LandSAR team shortly after he moved to Wanaka in 2003 and started in his new national LandSAR role this week.
The former media man says he spends a lot of time tramping on his own in the back-country.
"The more time you spend in the outdoors, the more you become conscious of the fact that one day you might need help," he said.
A mountain safety course in first aid led to an introduction to Wanaka police SAR co-ordinator Sergeant Aaron Nicholson and Mr Melchior was soon heavily involved with the organisation, primarily in a fundraising capacity.
His organisational skills for Wanaka LandSAR have focused on fundraising for an operations headquarters - realised in 2006 - and the right equipment for SAR volunteers.
His chairman role would centre on raising the national profile of LandSAR and he would act as a figurehead and spokesman.
Mr Melchior stressed the "key person" involved with running the voluntary organisation, would always be the Wellington-based CEO, Haydn Smith.
"Everyone knows about search and rescue, but relatively few people realise how it works. It doesn't come out of thin air."
Mr Melchior will chair a seven-strong board of directors, made up of four regional heads (two each from the North and South Islands) and three other elected representatives from around the country.
A former journalist with the New Zealand Press Association, Television New Zealand, and Reuters, Mr Melchior has several years of experience at senior executive level and was global managing director of Reuters, based in London.
He retired in 2002, but remains a member of TVNZ's board of directors.
He still contributes "the occasional" article to publications, such as New Zealand Wilderness magazine.
New LandSAR head
The Phil Melchior file:
•Ex-journalist with NZPA, TVNZ, and Reuters.
•Has lived in Wanaka with wife Barbara since 2003.
•New Zealand LandSAR is a national volunteer organisation which co-ordinates land search and rescues for police and the public.
•Split into 74 specialist groups, it has more than 2500 volunteer members spread across seven regions around New Zealand.
