The Greenlea rescue helicopter at Tūroa Skifield. Photo / Supplied
The Greenlea rescue helicopter at Tūroa Skifield. Photo / Supplied
The ski season has begun, and, with it, plenty of trips to Mt Ruapehu for the Taupō-based Greenlea rescue helicopter.
Five people were picked up from the mountain's two commercial skifields over the last month after sustaining injuries while enjoying themselves on the snow.
In addition, motor vehicle accidents and medical events kept the helicopter busy throughout the month, attending callouts to places as far afield as Ohura, west of Taumarunui, to Thames on the Coromandel Peninsula.
Three or even more callouts per day are no longer uncommon for the helicopter, which continues to experience high demand.
On Friday, July 9, it was called to a woman in her fifties who had sustained injuries following a fall in Tūrangi. She was flown to Waikato Hospital for further treatment.
The next day, the onboard crew was tasked to transport a female in her twenties to Waikato Hospital and the same afternoon they picked up a child suffering from a severe respiratory condition and flew the youngster to Waikato Hospital. That evening, it was off to Tirau to take a male patient in his fifties suffering a severe medical condition to Waikato Hospital.
On Sunday, July 11, the Greenlea rescue helicopter was sent to Ohura for a male patient in his fifties who had sustained a shoulder injury after a fall. The onboard crew flew the patient to Waikato Hospital for further treatment then headed to Mangakino to help a man in his sixties suffering a serious medical condition. He was flown to Waikato Hospital for further treatment. That same afternoon, the helicopter went to Tauranga for an infant suffering a serious medical condition, transporting the young patient to Starship Hospital.
The Greenlea rescue helicopter in flight. Photo / File
Three separate callouts on Monday, July 12, were to a car crash, a patient in Tūrangi who had had a fall and a medical event at Whakapapa Skifield respectively. All were transported to the appropriate hospital.
The next day the rescue helicopter was off to Galatea to pick up a person having a medical event. They were treated and flown to Rotorua Hospital.
Wednesday, July 14, saw the helicopter attend a motocross accident in Taupō where a teenage male had been injured.
On the afternoon of Thursday, July 15, the Tauranga-based TECT rescue helicopter, the Greenlea rescue helicopter and the Waikato Westpac rescue helicopter all responded to a motor vehicle accident near Thames involving a truck and several cars. Three patients who had sustained multiple injuries needed airlifting to hospital. Two were flown to Middlemore Hospital and one to Waikato Hospital. Later that day and again the next, the Greenlea chopper responded to call-outs for people suffering medical events.
The Greenlea rescue helicopter was one of three rescue helicopters that attended a serious motor vehicle accident near Thames on Thursday, July 15. Photo / Supplied
It was off to Whakapapa Skifield on Friday, July 23, to pick up a 10-year-old boy who had injured his back while skiing . He was taken to Starship Hospital. The crew then responded to a call out to Taumarunui for an infant who required time-critical transport. The patient was flown to Waikato Hospital in stable condition.
Tūroa Skifield was the destination on Saturday, July 24, to collect a young patient who had sustained injuries. They were transported to Waikato Hospital for further treatment. Later that same night, the rescue helicopter was called to Omori for a patient suffering a medical emergency that required urgent transportation. The onboard crew flew the patient to Rotorua Hospital.
The following weekend the helicopter flew two separate missions ferrying patients from Rotorua Hospital to Waikato Hospital and then on Sunday, August 1, headed back to Tūroa to collect a patient who had had a fall. They were treated at the scene before being flown to Waikato Hospital.
Later that evening, the helicopter's crew attended to a patient who had sustained injuries following a motor vehicle accident and the following day flew to the Tongariro National Park for a patient suffering a medical event. They were flown to Rotorua Hospital for further assessment.
