In New Zealand, all vehicles are right hand drive and in fire appliances the Officer in Charge (OIC) is seated to the driver's left.
The OIC is responsible for all radio messages, assisting the driver to locate the incident and site the appliance, make en route and on scene incident assessments
and the efficient mobilisation of his resources to deal with whatever incident that is encountered.
In New Zealand, full time fire officers are required to have a minimum of 5 years operational experience as a firefighter, as well as pass appropriate training courses and qualification examinations.
The officers of fire appliances in New Zealand hold the rank of either station officer or senior station officer.
