2168 NEW ZEALAND GAZETTE, No. 78 23 JULY 2014

there were significant aftershocks they could quickly pull the tunnellers out by their feet. Eventually the team of tunnellers, including Green, located a small group of students trapped under a beam. Two bodies had to be removed before the students could be reached. One student was trapped by her ankle and it took a long time to free her, but amputation was avoided. Another student was trapped by his head, but was pulled from beneath the beam and extracted through the tunnel. A third student could not be freed without an amputation. The amputation could not be carried out in the tunnel so Green used a concrete cutter to create a hole above the student. A civilian doctor was then lowered into the hole to perform the amputation. The rescue efforts of Mark Green and his team were carried out in dense smoke from the fire and under the constant threat of aftershocks.

Terrence David GYDE
Senior Firefighter, New Zealand Fire Service
Citation

On 22 February 2011 a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch, resulting in the collapse of the six-storey Canterbury Television building. A fire had ignited in the lower levels of the building, complicating rescue efforts. The fourth floor had been compressed to a space of approximately 60 centimetres high. Tunnels were created into the fourth floor to gain access to a number of survivors trapped inside. Senior Firefighter Terry Gyde worked with three other firefighters in alternating tunnelling teams of two. The firefighters were unable to use breathing apparatus or wear helmets due to the cramped conditions. Debris had to be passed backwards along the bodies of the rescuers and down the tunnel as there was no room to turn around. Firefighters were stationed at the tunnel entrance so that when there were significant aftershocks they could quickly pull the tunnellers out by their feet. Eventually the team of tunnellers, including Gyde, located a small group of students trapped under a beam. Two bodies had to be removed before the students could be reached. One student was trapped by her ankle and it took a long time to free her, but amputation was avoided. Another student was trapped by his head, but was pulled from beneath the beam and extracted through the tunnel. A third student could not be freed until an amputation was carried out by a civilian doctor assisted by another team of firefighters, through an access hole from above. Mr Gyde was then called out to relieve rescue efforts at the Pyne Gould Corporation building. On arriving, he entered a tunnel approximately 30 centimetres high with two other firefighters and crawled for nearly 10 metres before locating a trapped woman who had called for help on her cellphone. A large concrete beam blocked access to the woman preventing Gyde’s team from pulling her out. An aftershock struck as Gyde’s team moved to leave the tunnel during which the firefighters reported feeling concrete pressing simultaneously against their chests and backs. An Urban Search and Rescue team later extracted the woman by tunnelling down to her from a higher position. Mr Gyde was unable to use breathing apparatus or wear his helmet due to the cramped conditions at both buildings. Terry Gyde’s rescue efforts were carried out in adverse conditions of dense smoke and under the constant threat of aftershocks.

Craig Munro JACKSON
Senior Firefighter, New Zealand Fire Service
Citation

On 22 February 2011 a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck Christchurch, causing the collapse of the Pyne Gould Corporation building, trapping around 30 people inside. Senior Firefighter Craig Jackson was initially part of a group of firefighters on the southern side of the building working with small tools and clearing debris to assist in locating trapped persons. Jackson then joined another firefighter to enter holes in the side of the building and conduct a crawling search between the pancaked floors, looking for survivors. The space they searched was too confined for the firefighters to wear protective gear. The first survivor located was a badly injured woman hemmed into a tight space around 50 centimetres high, four metres into the building. The two firefighters shifted rubble out of the way allowing the woman to be rescued. A second man was located pinned underneath air-conditioning equipment and was freed using a hacksaw. Jackson joined a relief tunnelling team of firefighters who took over rescue efforts for a woman who had called for help on her cellphone. Jackson’s team tunnelled into a space of around 30 centimetres high, where Jackson’s team members reported feeling concrete pressing simultaneously on their chests and backs during an aftershock. The woman was trapped around five metres inside the tunnel, and could not be reached due to a large concrete beam. The woman was later rescued by an Urban Search and Rescue team who tunnelled down to her location. Craig Jackson’s rescue efforts were conducted in unstable and confined conditions under the constant threat of aftershocks.

Danny Edward JOHANSON
Senior Constable, New Zealand Police
Citation

When the 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch on 22 February 2011, Senior Constable Danny Johanson (now Sergeant) was deployed with a Police unit carrying advanced medical kits and specialist equipment into the inner-city area. The team used concrete cutting equipment at several sites and were at the forefront of several rescues at both the Pyne Gould Corporation and Canterbury Television buildings.
Senior Constable Johanson joined a firefighter and two civilian doctors in a rescue operation for a man who was trapped inside the PGC building. The man was in danger of bleeding to death with his legs pinned between a concrete pillar and a collapsed floor section. Senior Constable Johanson assisted with a complete double amputation of the man’s legs with a hacksaw and penknife. Inside the dark conditions of the collapsed building Senior Constable Johanson climbed into a confined area beside the trapped man, lying on a staircase with his feet above him in order to access the area to be operated on. The man was anaesthetised with morphine and ketamine and tourniquets applied to both legs. The civilian doctor performing the amputation became fatigued and passed the hacksaw to Senior Constable Johanson, the second doctor and the firefighter who took turns in completing the operation. The man was loaded onto a tarpaulin and carried to ambulance staff waiting outside the building. Several aftershocks hit during the operation, threatening to compromise the area Senior Constable Johanson was working in. The man survived due to their efforts.

Michael Douglas KNEEBONE
Constable, New Zealand Police
Citation

When the 6.3 magnitude earthquake struck Christchurch on 22 February 2011, Constable Michael Kneebone was one of the first Police officers in attendance at the collapsed Canterbury Television building. A fire had ignited in the lower levels of the building, complicating rescue efforts. Constable Kneebone worked with three other Police officers on the roof of the building to conduct several rescues amongst the rubble of the building’s lift tower. Their lives were at particular risk during the first hour when they were working under the precarious lift tower that was disintegrating with each aftershock. They were initially able