Bay of Plenty Times
  • Bay of Plenty Times home
  • Latest news
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
  • Sport
  • Video
  • Death notices
  • Classifieds

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • On The Up
  • Business
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Residential property listings
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
  • Sport

Locations

  • Coromandel & Hauraki
  • Katikati
  • Tauranga
  • Mount Maunganui
  • Pāpāmoa
  • Te Puke
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

Media

  • Video
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-Editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

Weather

  • Thames
  • Tauranga
  • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / Bay of Plenty Times

Aerocool Rescue Helicopter: Hikers trapped by Kaimai Range slip among 39 February missions

Bay of Plenty Times
29 Mar, 2023 03:21 AM2 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save
    Share this article
The Aerocool Rescue Helicopter relies on support from the public and sponsors.

The Aerocool Rescue Helicopter relies on support from the public and sponsors.

Two hikers trapped by a slip in the Kaimai Range were winched to safety by a rescue helicopter crew.

The rescue was one of 39 missions flown by the Tauranga-based Aerocool Rescue Helicopter in February

Of the operations, 13 were inter-hospital transfers, three were medical events, 17 were rural and farm incidents, five motor-vehicle accidents and one was a rescue mission, Phillips Search and Rescue Trust said in a statement today.

The hikers were rescued on February 11, with both patients winched up by the onboard critical care flight paramedics and flown to Tauranga Hospital for further treatment.

Almost 50 per cent of February missions were to rural or remote locations.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

On February 4, the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter was sent to a town north of Rotorua for a patient in their 30s suffering from serious fracture injuries after a vehicle crash.

The patient was flown to Waikato Hospital for treatment.

On the night of February 7, the helicopter attended Waihau Bay after a woman in her 60s was suffering from sepsis and in a serious condition. The patient was flown to Tauranga Hospital for further treatment.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

On February 9, it went to Motiti Island for a woman in her 60s who was suffering from a medical event, flying her to Tauranga Hospital.

That same day the rescue crew flew a woman in her 20s suffering from birthing difficulties from Tauranga Hospital to Waikato Hospital.

In the early hours of February 19, the chopper was dispatched to a small town north of Coromandel for a young boy suffering from a serious medical condition, flying him to Waikato Hospital.

That night, it flew a teenage girl who had fallen off a horse and suffered a serious head injury from Whakatane Hospital to Waikato Hospital.

On February 22, it took a woman in her 80s suffering from a serious medical event from Tauranga Hospital to Auckland Hospital.

The month ended with the Aerocool Rescue Helicopter crew being sent to a small town east of Rotorua for a man in his 70s suffering from a serious medical event, who was flown to Waikato Hospital.

The fast response of the rescue helicopter and its highly trained crew ensured the patients received the best care as quickly as possible, the trust said in the statement.

These life-saving missions were impossible without the generous support from the public and sponsors.

Save
    Share this article

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
Bay of Plenty Times

'No fuss' farewells: One in five funerals have no service or ceremony

26 Nov 05:02 PM
Bay of Plenty Times

'It got me': Diver surfaced coughing and struggling to breathe before drowning

26 Nov 04:00 PM
Bay of Plenty Times
|Updated

Man dies at Mount Maunganui beach

26 Nov 07:24 AM

Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from Bay of Plenty Times

Premium
Premium
'No fuss' farewells: One in five funerals have no service or ceremony
Bay of Plenty Times

'No fuss' farewells: One in five funerals have no service or ceremony

No goodbye can leave people with 'unresolved emotions' or 'disenfranchised grief'.

26 Nov 05:02 PM
'It got me': Diver surfaced coughing and struggling to breathe before drowning
Bay of Plenty Times

'It got me': Diver surfaced coughing and struggling to breathe before drowning

26 Nov 04:00 PM
Man dies at Mount Maunganui beach
Bay of Plenty Times
|Updated

Man dies at Mount Maunganui beach

26 Nov 07:24 AM


Kiwi campaign keeps on giving
Sponsored

Kiwi campaign keeps on giving

07 Sep 12:00 PM
NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • Bay of Plenty Times e-edition
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Subscribe to the Bay of Plenty Times
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP