Rescue chopper makes do

HELP AT HAND: Featherston firefighters help paramedics carry a woman to the Westpac rescue helicopter on Underhill Rd.

Makeshift helicopter landing pads at both ends of Featherston came into play for medical emergencies this week.

At 6.45am yesterday, Featherston Fire Brigade responded to a medical emergency involving an elderly woman on a rural property on Underhill Rd, joined by Wellington Free Ambulance and a police response team from Masterton.

The woman was stabilised while Life Flight's Westpac rescue helicopter landed in a farm paddock.

Due to high winds in Wellington and Hutt Valley, the helicopter had to cross the ranges north of the Rimutaka Hill Rd.

On Wednesday night, the helicopter had made an unusual landing at the dead end of Bethune St in Featherston, also in high winds.

Wellington Free Ambulance attended a woman in her 60s who had breathing difficulties and the helicopter was not needed, with the woman taken by ambulance to Wairarapa Hospital.