A distress signal was set off after a woman badly injuring her arm during a back-country skiing trip in a remote part of the South Island.
The 41-year-old Kirwee woman was part of a group back-country skiing in the Nelson Lakes National Park when she fell and injured her arm in a fall tramping out to St Arnaud.
The Nelson Marlborough Rescue Helicopter said a doctor from another party assessed the woman's injury and decided it was serious enough to set off a personal locator beacon.
The rescue coordination centre directed the rescue helicopter to Speargrass Hut. The woman was assessed and treated by an on-board intensive care paramedic before being flown to Nelson Hospital in a stable condition.
Immediately after the helicopter was sent to the remote Catherine Cove on D'Urville Island to fly a two-year-old boy to hospital who had hurt his arm in a fall.
