The Greenlea rescue helicopter. Photo / Supplied
A quieter fortnight for Taupō's Greenlea rescue helicopter over late November began with a very busy weekend.
The rescue helicopter's crews have had a record-breaking 2020, surpassing their previous full year's callouts back in October.
In the middle weekend of November, the helicopter was called out eight times in three days.
But then its crews were treated to a rare quiet spell, with a two-week period with no callouts, before the action kicked off again on December 1.
The busy November weekend began on the morning of Friday, November 13, when the Greenlea rescue helicopter was dispatched to a single-car crash on the Desert Rd. A passenger in his 40s was treated at the scene and transported to Rotorua Hospital with moderate injuries. Later that evening the crew transported a patient in her 60s from Rotorua to Waikato Hospital for specialist care following a medical event.
Early the next morning on Saturday, November 14, the Greenlea rescue helicopter was tasked to Murupara for a patient with critical head injuries following a fall. The patient was stabilised at the scene and flown to Waikato Hospital for medical care.
Soon after arriving back in Taupō, the Greenlea rescue helicopter was sent to transport a child in a serious condition following an acute medical event from Taupō to Rotorua Hospital.
Later that same afternoon the rescue helicopter flew to Mangakino for a patient in his 60s who had been cutting firewood when the chainsaw kicked back, causing serious injuries to his arm. It was a team effort with the road ambulance team and local fire service to get the patient stabilised and carried up the bank to the rescue helicopter.
Early on Sunday, November 16, the Rescue Coordination Centre dispatched the Greenlea rescue helicopter to a beacon activation in a bush near Murupara. A hunter had fallen the evening prior, suffering head and neck injuries. Local Land Search and Rescue had located the party at 2am and awaited the arrival of the helicopter at first light. The hunter was flown to Rotorua Hospital.
Soon after getting back to base, the helicopter transported a patient in his 50s with an acute stroke that required specialised treatment at Rotorua Hospital.
That evening the on-duty crew were dispatched to Reporoa for a motor-vehicle accident where three occupants were in a car that had rolled after colliding with a truck. A male was flown to Waikato Hospital with serious head and chest injuries in a stable condition. An infant and adult in the vehicle were taken to hospital by St John road ambulance.
Following the two-week quiet spell, the action kicked off again on Tuesday, December 1, shortly after 10.45am, when the helicopter was called to a motor vehicle accident on SH5 near Tahorakuri Forest.
A 59-year-old female was injured in the accident and was treated by the onboard intensive care paramedic alongside ambulance staff at the scene then airlifted to Rotorua Hospital in a stable condition.
Late the next evening, shortly after 11.15pm, the Greenlea rescue helicopter was tasked alongside the Tauranga-based TECT rescue helicopter and the Waikato Westpac rescue helicopter to Murupara, where a pedestrian had been hit by a car.
The pedestrian received serious leg injuries and was stabilised by the onboard intensive care paramedic and ambulance paramedics. They were flown to Rotorua Hospital.
Two days later, it was off to Taumarunui to an all-terrain vehicle that had rolled off a ridge. A man was treated at the scene by the paramedic and extracted by winch before being airlifted to Waikato Hospital in a stable condition.
The week wound up with attendance at a motor vehicle accident on SH30 near Horohoro, where a 61-year-old male was treated by the onboard intensive care paramedic, St John staff, passing off-duty medical professionals and Fire and Emergency NZ staff before he was flown to Waikato Hospital in a critical condition.
Later the same day, the helicopter picked up an 80-year-old Te Kuiti woman suffering from a stroke. She was flown to Waikato Hospital in a serious condition.
Sir Robert (Bom) Gillies was the last surviving member of the 28th Māori Battalion.