- National Infectious Disease Planning
The Ministry of Health is responsible for planning the national response to health service emergencies of all kinds.
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- Road Information
AA road condition reports.
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- South Island Highway Status
New Zealand Transport Assocation
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- Weather Information
NZ MetService reports.
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- Climate Outlook
The New Zealand climate forecast for next 3 months.
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Canterbury Emergency Coordination
System Forms and Guide

CDEM Group members:
- Ashburton District Council
- Christchurch City Council
- Environment Canterbury
- Hurunui District Council
- Kaikoura District Council
- Mackenzie District Council
- Selwyn District Council
- Timaru District Council
- Waimakariri District Council
- Waimate District Council
Coordinating Executive Group member organisations:
- NZ Police
- NZ Fire Service
- St John Ambulance
- Canterbury District Health Board
- South Canterbury District Health Board
- Canterbury West Coast Regional Rural Fire Committee
- Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry
- Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management
Latest Updates from Facebook
Latest Earthquake Information
Visit the Canterbury Earthquake website: www.canterburyearthquake.org.nz
Earthquake Update Friday 23rd December 2011: 4.30pm
Friday 23 December 4.30pm: Following the series of quakes in Christchurch since just before 2pm, the Group Civil Defence emergency office has activated in Papanui, Christchurch City is activating its Emergency Operations Centre in central Christchurch and Selwyn District Council has activated monitoring. Reports of damage are being monitored and the response will increase if the need for a significant coordinated response becomes apparent.
Advice for the public.
People in the affected area should:
- Expect aftershocks. Each time one is felt, drop, cover, and hold on.
- Check yourself first for injuries and get first aid if necessary before helping injured or trapped persons.
- Assess your home or workplace for damage. If the building appears unsafe get everyone out. Use the stairs, not an elevator and when outside, watch out for fallen power lines or broken gas lines. Stay out of damaged areas.
- Look for and extinguish small fires if it is safe to do so. Fire is a significant hazard following earthquakes.
- Listen to the radio for updated emergency information and instructions.
- Do not overload phone lines with non-emergency calls.
- Help people who require special assistance - infants, elderly people, those without transportation, families who may need additional help, people with disabilities, and the people who care for them.
Detailed safety advice will come from local authorities and emergency services in the area. People should act on it promptly. MCDEM, local civil defence authorities and scientific advisors are closely monitoring the situation.
Canterbury teams supporting Nelson-Tasman flood response
Media Release - 20 December 2011
Canterbury Civil Defence Emergency Management personnel are actively supporting their colleagues managing the response to state of emergency in Nelson-Tasman. Read more
Canterbury CDEM Residents Attitude and Behaviour Monitor Report - September 2011
31 October 2011
Canterbury CDEM Residents Attitude and Behaviour Monitor Report
Canterbury CDEM Community Survey 2009
17 February 2010
The two-yearly survey of community perceptions and preparedness is available at:
Canterbury CDEM Community Survey 2009 [PDF 1.6MB]
Follow Canterbury CDEM on Twitter for updates and alerts at:
Canterbury CDEM Group Plan Review
12 July 2011
The Canterbury Regional Emergency Management Office is leading the 5-year review of the region's Civil Defence Emergency Management Plan for the member authorities of the Canterbury CDEM Group.
A systematic, risk-based approach to the review is being put in place through briefings of the various emergency management-related committees and forums within Canterbury over the next few months. The review process is based on the recently released Ministry of CDEM Group Plan Review Guideline and was intended to be completed before the end of 2010 but has been delayed due to ongoing earthquake response and recovery activities
A region-wide CDEM capability assessment will be carried out in February and March to inform the review of the plan. For more information on the assessment process you can go to the Ministry of CDEM Monitoring and Evaluation web-page.
Canterbury CDEM partner agencies, at local and regional levels, will be involved in the review process, with the public being consulted at key stages of the review. The objective being to ensure that we are all working togethe ras effectively as we can to enable communities and organisations across Canterbury to be as resilient as they can be.
Jon Mitchell. Manager
Regional Emergency Management Office
Emergency Contact Details
In the first instance contact your local City/District Council (contact numbers in the back of the Yellow Pages) or if it is a life threathening situation call the Emergency Services on 111
Useful resources relating to pandemic preparedness include:
- NZ Ministry of Health resources
- NZ Ministry of CDEM Pandemic Planning Guidance for:
Communities (small file - Practical community group planning tool) - Local Government/CDEM Groups (large file)
- NZ Ministry of Economic Development resources
- UK Small Business Pandemic Planning Checklist
- USA Centres for Disease Control pandemic site

