Bridge to Nowhere lodge owners Mandy Jackson and Joe Adam regularly use their jet boat to carry out rescues on the Whanganui River. Photo/supplied
Bridge to Nowhere lodge owners Mandy Jackson and Joe Adam regularly use their jet boat to carry out rescues on the Whanganui River. Photo/supplied
Dramatic water rescues and nights in the bush have kept rescuers busy over the past year. The Herald spoke to some of those receiving recognition at the New Zealand Search and Rescue Awards this evening.
'We couldn't see two feet in front of us'
Paramedic Steve Orr hand-ventilated a critical patient for at least two hours after running out of portable oxygen. Photo/supplied
Navigating the Whanganui River in the middle of the night in blinding fog and a critically ill patient on his jet boat, Joe Adam didn't think he was going to make it in time.
The Bridge to Nowhere lodge owner and his partner Mandy Jackson had taken their boat out to rescue a man from a campsite in a remote area of Whanganui National Park.
"I've lived on the river most of my life and I have been up that river every day, but in the blind fog and the dark, like when you can't see two feet in front of you, the whole scene changes," Adam said.
"It becomes very scary because you can't see what's in front of you. Even though you know the river, it's very intense. I didn't think we were going to get him out, to be honest."
The group was called out to transport the patient on May 6 last year when the rescue helicopter was unable to take off in the heavy mist. Adam, Jackson and paramedic Steve Orr needed to get the patient to a hospital urgently, but the conditions were against them.
"We basically had to go 30km down the river, blind, in a jet boat," Adam said.
The pair have saved nearly 90 people over the past two months, including 43 people who needed rescuing after a campground flooded. They say it is just part of their job.
When they arrived on the scene in May last year to transport the patient, he was unconscious and "virtually dead".
"By the time the chopper arrived they couldn't feel a heartbeat, it was that weak."
Orr ran out of portable oxygen to give the patient on the boat ride to the ambulance, and had to hand-ventilate the man for at least two hours to keep him alive.
Adam said what would normally be a 20-minute trip took an hour and a half.
"When we came out of the fog and saw the ambulance sitting in front of us on the wharf, yeah, it was a real relief."
Adam said he and Jackson were "honoured" to be receiving a NZ Search and Rescue Gold Award for Operational Activity for their actions that night. Orr is also receiving the award.
"A lot of people do a lot of things in New Zealand. I feel really humbled for what's happening and honoured for receiving this," Adam said.
He and Jackson were the "guardians" on the river.
"It's our job."
'You have to get out of there now'
Seven people were rescued from the roof of this car after a flood near Mosgiel. Photo/supplied
A group of people rescued from a car roof on a flooded road near Mosgiel were hypothermic and in danger of being washed away when the Otago Search and Rescue Squad arrived.
Member Isaac Davies and his team are receiving a certificate of achievement for their actions on July 21 last year when the Taieri River breached its banks and flooded the nearby plain.
It was about 1.30am when the squad was sent to rescue seven people whose car had been swept up by the floodwaters.
"We found seven people ankle deep, standing on top of their car, pinned against trees," Davies said.
Worse still, two farmers who tried to save the group had rolled their own vehicle and were trapped up a tree 100m down the road.
"Our rescue swimmer had to climb into the tree to then clip them up, which was probably the scariest, hardest part of the rescue, but we stayed calm and did our thing and stuck to our skills, and we managed to get them out."
Seven of the nine people rescued were hypothermic, and one person was "delirious, unresponsive", had no motor function, and was probably 15-20 minutes away from falling unconscious, Davies said.
The rescue, which took about an hour and a half, finished "in the nick of time", as unbeknownst to all involved, nearby dam waters had been released.
"We had about 15 minutes left and they were like 'you have to get out of there now'."
Everyone escaped the flood waters safely.
Davies, along with club members James Coombes, Matthew Bradley, Max Corboy, Alan Todd, Michael Trembath, Rhys McAlevey, Seth McPhee, Stefhan Brown and Scott Weatherall, are all being recognised for the rescue.
"It hasn't quite hit home or registered," Davies said.
He thought it was "quite cool" to be recognised on the 50th anniversary of the Wahine disaster, particularly considering that was when IRBs first started to be used in rescues around New Zealand.
He said the other organisations involved in the rescue, including the fire brigade, played a "huge part".
'We were really working to our limits'
Dave St John has dedicated 515 hours to Coastguard in the last year. Photo/supplied
Dave St John has clocked up 515 hours serving Coastguard Marlborough in just the past 12 months.
St John has acted as a training officer, a regional coastguard instructor, the unit operations officer, a committee member and has shared media liaison duties.
He received the NZSAR Gold Award for Support Activity, which is awarded for a particularly significant contribution to search and rescue. The 515 hours he has dedicated to Coastguard in the past year include 95 on the rescue vessel, 205 on training, 150 on community events and 65 hours on maintenance.
St John said he was surprised to hear about the award.
"I didn't know I was even entered, it's quite a humbling experience," he said.
