Five Days in the Red Zone

They were straightforward, no frills people hurled into a crisis, reacting to it in a very human way.

– Dominion Post reviewer Jane Clifton, 27 May 2011

I don't know where my brother is. No one's heard from him . . . I'm not going to be discussing it with my guys; I've got them to think about.

– A sergeant discusses how he's going to keep his personal concerns private from his crew

These rural officers hoped they would be saving lives and rescuing people, but what they discover is an eerie place full of strangeness, sadness, bizarre moments and the challenge of dealing with the dead, not the living.

– Greenstone programme publicity for this documentary

...we feel guilty. We don't feel like we're doing enough . . . Every cop wants to be stuck in the thick of it, and you want to be, you know, being the maximum help you can be . . . . I know we're looking after people's property and keeping people safe and that's really important, but we feel guilty or whatever that we're not doing more.

– Constable Mark Wellstead

You're a lot quieter than normal... it's the ones that you least expect that will come up. You might have an emotional outburst which is completely out of character and unexpected for you, and those are the sorts of signs to look out for. 20.00

– Sergeant Bruce Martin advises a young constable on signs of emotional trauma, after he discovers a deceased mother and infant in the rubble

They're based at Latimer Square, sleeping in tents . . . they've come fully self-supported for 70 days: that's everything, including all their food and water. They're exceptionally brave people. They're going into buildings that I wouldn't go into, to look for survivors.

– Sergeant Bruce Martin on one of the overseas search and rescue teams

There are now 1150 police, search and rescue and disaster victim identification personnel in Christchurch.

– On-screen graphic from this documentary