NorthTec graduate strengthens Northland’s emergency defences

Winning insight by NorthTec graduate strengthens Northland’s emergency defences

Victoria Randall is proof that good can come from the worst of human tragedies.

Graduating with a Bachelor of Applied Information Systems degree from NorthTec earlier this month, the mother of two from Yorkshire was rewarded with not one, but two special prizes for outstanding academic achievement. These included the New Zealand Computer Society Industry Award for excellence demonstrated with an industry project, and the Northland Polytechnic Council Applied Information Systems prize.

Victoria had developed the idea for her industry project, by drawing from her own experiences as team leader of the Whangarei Red Cross Emergency Response Team after last September’s earthquake in Christchurch.

“It was that relief work that inspired me to use the emergency management experience and the IT skills I was developing at NorthTec for the industry project,” Victoria said.

Entitled “A full systems analysis of the Northland Civil Defence Emergency Management System,” her industry project examined the current computerised Emergency Management information system to ascertain its efficiency in a Civil Defence emergency of similar proportions within Northland, making recommendations for “enhancing the system’s effectiveness.”

Working closely with Graeme McDonald, Senior Programme Manager of Civil Defence at the Northland Regional Council, a comprehensive analysis of the Emergency Management computer system the NRC use for collecting and distributing emergency notifications was carried out.

The project, said Victoria, established the efficiency of both the hardware and software used within the system, how employees interacted with the system, and its overall current effectiveness. From the preliminary investigation, recommendations were given on alternative hardware and software that could be used to further the system’s efficiency for now and in the future. She said costs and justifications for the recommendations were given, and the entire project was recorded, printed, and presented to the NRC.

“The project was readily accepted as accurate and a copy was sent to the Ministry of Civil Defence for their information,” Victoria said.

Winning a prize for her work was an added bonus, as she said her focus had been to establish if an effective information system was in place to prevent Northlander’s facing similar difficulties in the event of a Civil Defence emergency here.

In the midst of carrying out the investigation in Northland, Victoria was thrust into action and deployed to Christchurch to lead the Whangarei Red Cross Emergency Response Team following last September’s earthquake.

“The Christchurch earthquakes have shown the need for effective Civil Defence Emergency Management information systems to be in place in every region throughout New Zealand. No one knows when an emergency will occur and the system will be needed. This furthered my desire to produce an accurate analysis of the Emergency Management information system used within Northland,” she said.

In the days following last year’s earthquake, when Christchurch was still being jolted with sizeable aftershocks, Victoria and her team went house to house in the worst affected Christchurch suburbs, assessing the welfare needs of residents and offering emotional support to victims of the quake.

As Victoria comes from the north of England this was her first experience with any earthquake. She said while those aftershocks did have her on edge, at the same time, the Whangarei Red Cross team was there to do a job.

“We were doing 18 hour shifts that were very hard work, tiring and emotionally draining,” a coy Victoria said.

Since that tour of duty, Victoria has been back to Christchurch again leading the Whangarei Red Cross Emergency Response Team, following the second devastating earthquake on 22 February this year. This time, she also ran the Red Cross Operations Centre for a week giving her valuable added insight for her project.

When first arriving in New Zealand with her two young children around four years ago, Victoria was a registered dental technologist, but decided she wanted a change of career and opted for the Bachelor of Applied Information Systems degree offered at NorthTec. She said the degree gave her scope afterwards to find future employment in the IT industry in Northland.

She has since secured a job in her chosen field at Virtual Infrastructure Professionals (VIP) in Whangarei, who own and run a data centre which provides IT services to the likes of the Northland’s representative Councils, the Northland District Health Board, and the New Zealand Oil Refinery at Marsden Point.

Those and other organisations, store data with VIP, and with one of the services offered being disaster recovery, in the event of a Civil Defence emergency, valuable data pertaining to the effective running of those entities can be resurrected quickly.

“This is a vital service so important information would not be completely lost and services provided by those organisations can be up and running as soon as possible,” explained Victoria.

Although delighted with the praise she has received for her contribution to improving Northland’s Emergency Management information system, she said her accomplishments had not come without hard graft. Initially, she started studying the Bachelor of Applied Information Systems degree part-time, with her two and five year-olds to look after, but managed to get through completing her degree last November.

“It is hard work, but you just have to be dedicated, organised, and always willing to do your best. I put 100 per cent effort into the work I did with the majority of my grades while at NorthTec in the A to A+ range. For me, I got a lot of self satisfaction out of achieving and to be recognised for it is really something.”

Business Programme Leader, Albert van Aardt, said right from the outset, Victoria stood out as a student who was willing to work hard for what she wanted and deserved the praise she was now receiving for her efforts.

“Victoria was focussed and tried to produce the best possible work always going the extra mile. I am so pleased with what she has been able to achieve,” Dr van Aardt said.

Not only will Victoria work at VIP, but has also forged a business partnership with local businessman Stephen Brown, also from the UK, to operate a kitchen renovation and design business in Whangarei. The enterprise will be established by April and known as Dream Doors Northland.

Victoria said before the job at VIP came along, she had decided to run with the opportunity to go into business with Mr Brown.

Between her two relief work assignments for Red Cross, her two academic prizes and her two new jobs, Victoria joked she liked to do things in twos.
“It has all worked out which is good, it makes a nice change,” she said with a smile.

ends

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