Will Johnston: Germans highlight awesome services

The Trustpower TECT Rescue Helicopter.

As you probably heard last weekend, after chewing through a considerable amount of neck-oil (booze), some German tourists jumped into the Tauranga Harbour and went for a swim.

It was about 3am, they got in at Dive Cres, one turned back, presumably because it was freaking freezing! The other made it to the Mount side and was picked up by the cops on Hewletts Rd just after 5am.

There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that these two guys are idiots. Luckily they aren't dead idiots. There is also absolutely no denying that I laughed out loud when I read the Bay of Plenty Times article about it!

Despite them wasting an enormous amount of police and rescuers' time, at a peak time, it is a pretty sweet story for them to take home. Hopefully it doesn't bring a wave of alcohol-soaked German tourists to the Bay. What am I saying?! They're already here!

I'm not making light of what they did and there is no encouragement here. But we've all done stupid stuff before, right? It's life. I've been swimming drunk before. But it was summer, it was light, it was a lake (no current) and I was actually standing next to a sober surf lifesaver. I'd like to think I'm on the smarter end of the idiot spectrum (though my partner might disagree)! I also only went up to my knees... mainly because I got cold and wanted more beer.

What the drunk Germans highlight is the vast array of callouts our emergency/rescue services have to contend with. The number of beautiful, yet remote, areas we have also makes us ripe for injuries. The tip of the iceberg would be the Kaimais, Matakana Island and that entire Maketu-Ohope coast.

It would all be a much less inviting place without a rescue chopper. The TrustPower TECT Rescue Chopper has averaged 25 call outs a month since the start of the year- its busiest first half of any year on record.

On Friday it was the chopper's annual appeal day, we chopped out the ads (see what we did there?) on my show for an hour to highlight what they do. Do you know it only takes eight minutes to fly from Maketu to Tauranga Hospital? The chopper also has emergency paramedics, who can administer the sweet pain relief drugs you're gonna need. I'm pretty sure the guy with serious leg injuries, trapped in a van for 90 minutes after a crash near Maketu the other week, was pretty thankful when the chopper got there.

If it takes a couple of drunk Germans to make you think about the awesome rescue services we have here, then they've served their purpose, I guess! More to the point, what do you do to contribute to those services here? It doesn't have to be cash, it could just be your time or some food. Imagine you're the guy in the van in Maketu right now, but there's no pain relief and you're not getting to hospital for another 2 ½ hours at least. Bet he never thought he'd need the chopper either. Here's where to donate: www.chopperappeal.co.nz

(Will Johnston is host of The Hits 95FM Day Show. Live and local from 9am till 3pm, every weekday in the Bay of Plenty.)