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The 18 participants of Youth in Emergency Services were taken to task during their final event of the project recently.

The YES project was introduced to the region in May with the aim of giving youth in Thames-Coromandel a taste of what it means to be a volunteer for the emergency services.

The participants of the Youth in Emergency Services project hoisting the car for extraction of a 'patient' trapped under the car. The final event of the project was held last weekend. For more photos click on the slideshow above. Photos: TCDC

Held last weekend, the final event saw participants working on a simulated traffic accident plus carrying out a search and rescue operation during a civil defence emergency.

The project has run over June with a theory and a practical component for each of the four services taking part.

Emergency Management officer and project champion Helen Flynn says emergency services recruitment officers will now follow up with candidates who've indicated an interest in volunteering.

'We already know we have eight of the 18 YES candidates definitely signing up to volunteer with LandSAR, NZFS and St John,” she says. 'Given the engagement of all the youth in the project I think it is very likely this number will increase.”

The Thames-Coromandel District Council is now working on funding for the next YES project which will be run on the eastern side of the Coromandel.

The YES programme has been successfully delivered in Kaikohe, Gisborne, Rotorua, Managakino/Turangi, Kaikoura and Alexandra in 2013-14.

Youth and Civil Defence Minister Nikki Kaye has announced the expansion of the YES programme to a further 20 communities across New Zealand over 2015-16.

For more information about the YES project visit the thames Coromandel District Council's website at: www.tcdc.govt.nz/yes

Volunteer Siobhan puts her trust in the participants as they carry her out of the bush. Photo: TCDC