Emergency beacon could have saved seven hour trek

A hunting trip in the remote Ureweras ended in a seven-hour trek to get medical help. File photo / NZ Herald

A seven-hour trek to get medical help could have been avoided if two men had taken an emergency beacon with them on a hunting trip in the remote Ureweras, police say.

A 19-year-old Opotiki plumber made the long walk after his 50-year-old father started to suffer chest pains at the isolated Makakoere Hut, about 70km inland from Matawai, on Saturday morning.

The area has no cell phone coverage and the pair, understood to be involved with search and rescue, were not carrying an emergency beacon.

Senior Sergeant Maui Aben of Gisborne police said the father was unable to walk back from the hut, so his son had to make the seven-hour trek to the road.

"The son drove out from the car park, out to Opotiki, when he raised the alarm to emergency services," he told APNZ.

A ground team started out towards the hut, while the Eastland Community Trust rescue helicopter was called in to help evacuate the man.

"Because of the deteriorating weather that we had on the weekend, it was touch and go whether or not we would be able to get a helicopter in," Mr Aben said.

"With the help of the locals just telling us what the weather conditions were like, the pilots decided to give it a go.

"At the same time we put in a ground team, just in case the pilot of the chopper wasn't able to get in. Thankfully ... the chopper was able to get in and get him out."

The father was picked up from the hut about 6.30pm on Saturday and taken to Gisborne Hospital for treatment.

The rescue would have come sooner if his son had called as soon as he got to the road, possibly from a farm house, Mr Aben said.

"We may have been able to get in earlier if we had've been contacted a bit earlier."

Rescuers also would have been able to reach the hut sooner if the otherwise well-equipped pair had taken an emergency locator beacon with them.

"Personal locator beacons are really, really popular and it would have saved a lot of hassle and delay if they had've had one. They could have set it off, and they would have been there (hospital) that morning rather than that night."

The family did not wish to comment when contacted today.